Good One
by yogibogi
Summary: COMPLETE! A lighthearted, humourous account of some events that occur during the Marauder's last year at Hogwarts. Please read and review! Mainly SBOC, and some RLOC, JPLE
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 1

"I can't find my sweatshirt!" exclaimed a very frustrated girl while standing before a mountain of clothes in her closet.

"Which one?" her roommate asked her from behind a book.

"My favorite red hoodie." she said with a pout.

"It's probably in your trunk, Nina." the girl with the book said rationally.

"I looked there already," a very dejected-sounding Nina replied.

"Under the bed?" her roommate suggested.

"Not there either, Lily." Nina sulked.

"Okay, let me try something." Lily closed her book, got up from her bed, and picked up a wand. "_Accio hoodie!_" Ten hooded sweatshirts came zooming out of trunks, drawers and closets, all piling on Lily's head. "I hig uh foudid," came a muffled voice underneath. A pale hand reached out holding a bright red hooded sweatshirt.

"Ah! Thanks. Why didn't I think of doing that?" Nina said, while pulling her sweatshirt over her head.

"Curse of the muggleborns. We forget to use magic to do simple things." Lily said with a smile. Nina Aydin and Lily Evans had been friends ever since their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As they both came from non-magical, or _muggle_, backgrounds, they had a special bond of friendship that put them through the last six years of school. Apart from this bond and the fact that they were both very intelligent, Nina and Lily had little else in common. Lily was outgoing and had a great sense of humor. She was a natural leader who fought for what she believed in and got along with almost everybody. The younger students and her peers looked up to her. Girls wanted to be her friend, and boys just wanted her. She had an obviously striking beauty with fiery red hair and a temper to match it.

Nina, on the other hand, was quite different from Lily, in looks as well as personality. Nina was an introvert who tended to socialize with only those whom she knew very well. She was usually very calm and tried avoided confrontation. Her mind might be buzzing with a million things she would like to say, but people would scarcely ever hear them, choosing to only speak when really necessary. She was too self-conscious and hated any type of attention. She almost envied Lily's beautiful green eyes and slim figure that all the boys drooled over. Her own long black hair and brown eyes, she felt, didn't add any advantages to her more "womanly" figure.

"Why do you always wear a sweatshirt, Nina? It's not cold in the common room." Lily asked her friend.

"Oh…you know me. I like wearing loose clothing." Nina replied.

"Yeah, I can tell. That's all you ever wear! Tracks and hoodies, with your hair tied up in messy bun. I don't think I've ever seen you in anything else. If I wasn't your roommate, I wouldn't know how long your hair was!" Lily exclaimed with a teasing smile.

"Are we talking about Nina's hair again?" said a voice through the door. A pretty girl with curly shoulder-length brown hair came into the dorm. It was Lily and Nina's other roommate, Sara Bana, a girl with a tongue as sharp as a knife, but a heart as big as the ocean. "I've told this girl so many times to let it down. She never listens to me!"

"Please guys. I don't care about my hair right now. I gotta go down and study if I want to pass sixth year. I think everyone in Gryffindor is studying tonight. Remus is down by the fireplace, waiting for me with some notes I need. Are you lot coming?" Nina said by the door with her books in her hand.

"Yeah, I'm coming. I'm just going to change and I'll join you." Lily replied.

"Ooh, I'm in too. Maybe Remus can help me with my Ancient Rhunes." Sara added with a smile that lighted her whole face. She was always ready to join a group, especially if there were boys around.

"I think James is good in that actually." Nina said.

"Oh no. Potter isn't down there too, is he?" Lily asked with a moan.

"Uh…no he wasn't. Just Remus." Nina replied. Lily couldn't stand James Potter. He, and his friends Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were the most popular boys in school. Not only were they gifted students (well, all of them except Peter—nobody understood how he made the cut); but they made it a point to prank everyone in the school, particularly students in their rival house, Slytherin. Everyone in the school knew, much to the disappointment of the girls, that James was in love with Lily.

"Okay, I'll meet you down there in five." Lily said, changing out of her school robes.

Nina grabbed a bag of muggle chocolates that her mother always sent her and went down the stairs to the common room and saw a sandy-haired boy creasing his brows in concentration while reading a puzzling spell. Of all the boys in their year, she liked Remus best. Unlike his friends, the other "Marauders" as they penned themselves, Remus was very approachable and easy to talk to. He seemed oblivious to the fact that he was good looking because his other two friends, James and Sirius, were the school heartthrobs. Nina was too shy to talk much around the boys, but she always felt comfortable around Remus.

"Studying alone today?" Nina asked as she walked towards where Remus was sitting.

He looked up at her and smiled, the crease disappearing from his forehead, "Not anymore." He moved over on the couch and put his books on the floor, "James and Sirius are at their last Quidditch practice before the final game. Merlin knows where Peter is. Oh, here are the history notes you wanted." He looked really pale and tired as he passed her his notes; like he hadn't slept in weeks.

"Ooh, thanks." Nina took the notes from him and started to diligently copy them onto her parchment. About ten minutes later, Lily and Sara came down and joined them. Their quiet study session started to get a little louder after half of Nina's bag of chocolate was consumed and Sara and Remus began to argue on the correct spell for removing warts.

"Look, I'm telling you, this is the correct way to do it." Sara was insisting.

"How can you be so sure?" Remus retorted.

"'Cause I—uh had to help a friend once who got jinxed." Remus was about to ask how the "friend" got jinxed when he suddenly looked up towards the portrait hole, seemingly listening to something. Two seconds later the hole opened and two tall, black-haired boys came running in. They fell to the floor laughing and howling, while everyone in the common room stopped what they were doing to stare at them.

"Oh, man! That was a brilliant prank! You should've seen his face!" James said to Sirius through fits of hysterical laughter.

"Potter!" Lily yelled as she stood up from her seat. James and Sirius abruptly stopped their chortling, "Can't you see we're studying here? Go back outside if you're going to make such a racket!" James stared at Lily with a stunned expression on his face, as Sirius scanned the perimeter of the common room, noticing that everyone's eyes were on them. His lips formed a mischievous smirk and he ran his hand through his perfectly-set hair. His attention went back to James, who was still staring at Lily. Sirius cleared his throat, which snapped James out of his momentary stupor.

"Hey!" James retorted. "I didn't know the common room had suddenly been transformed into the library! And why do you always have to single me out and pick on me? I wasn't the only one, you know."

"I don't care." Lily replied impatiently. "I only noticed your obnoxious voice." With that, Sirius got up looking very pleased with himself and took a seat on the other side of Remus muttering, "Well, it looks like I'm getting out of this one."

"Aha, noticing me now are you, Evans?" James said with a cheeky grin. Nina could hear Remus muttering to Sirius, "Here we go again."

"Please Potter. We seriously need to study—unlike you and Black here." Lily replied rolling her eyes.

"Damn, looks like I'm in again." Sirius said quietly. Nina looked up at Remus and Sirius and couldn't help but stifle a laugh. She always had a big problem of laughing at everything—especially during supposedly serious moments. People thought she was a somber person because she was so quiet, but her friends knew she could laugh like a hyena at times. She quickly creased her eyebrows and started to copy notes with as much concentration as she could so that nobody would notice her trying not to laugh, especially the boys next to her. She obviously didn't look serious enough because Lily caught her.

"Nina, what is so funny?" Lily looked angry and confused at the same time.

Nina cleared her throat. "Oh, I wasn't laughing at anything…just these notes…" Her voice trailed off as she put her hand on the side of her face and she looked back down at her notes. She could feel her face getting warm because she knew everyone was looking at her. She hated it when people looked at her—especially extremely good-looking _male_ people in close proximity. She was going kill Lily later for putting her on the spot.

Sirius, who always seemed oblivious to any conversation that didn't involve himself, looked at a clock on the wall and said to his friends, "Hey guys, we've got to go. It's almost nine—we'll be late."

The smile that was on Remus's face left, "I almost forgot." He looked tired again and started packing up his books.

"Where do you guys have to go _now_?" inquired Lily.

"None of your business, Evans," replied James.

"Well, I'm a prefect. I should know where you're going after hours." she said authoritatively.

"So is Remus, and he's coming with us. So stop being so nosy." Lily looked affronted by James's words, but after looking at Remus, who looked paler than ever, she changed her mind about retorting again. As the boys were walking out, Sirius spotted Nina's bag of chocolates and grabbed it.

"Hey!" Sara said, "You can't just take those chocolates without asking."

"Oh." Sirius said. "Well, can I have some?"

"They're not mine." Sarah replied.

"Then why do you care?" Sirius said while taking one of the chocolates and popping into his mouth.

"They're Nina's." she said.

"Well, Nina doesn't mind if I take any. Do you, Nina?" He turned to Nina holding the bag with a smile on his face. Nina, who could feel the heat coming to her face again, just looked up and was about to say _no_ when Sara interrupted her, "Yes, she does! She's just too nice to say anything."

"Oh." Sirius frowned and was about to put the bag down.

"No, it's okay." Nina said in a quiet voice. "You can have them."

"Really. Thanks, Nina." He smiled and winked at her and left with the chocolate. Nina was sure her face was beet red by now. Hoping no one would notice her she went back to copying her notes.

"What did you do that for? I wanted to have some chocolate. You didn't have to give him the whole bloody bag!" Sara scolded Nina.

"I have some more upstairs." Nina said casually, but praying inside that her face would cool down.

"Mmhmm. So what were you laughing about anyways?" she asked curiously.

"Um…I don't really remember." Nina replied and Sara gave her a disbelieving look. "Seriously. You know me. I laugh at stupid things at stupid times."

"Hmm. I guess." Sara said, and then realizing something asked, "Where'd Lily go?" They looked around the common room and saw that their friend was gone.

A/N: Some of you have already read this story. I accidentally deleted it, but then decided to edit and re-post it. There are a few changes (e.g. character names etc...), but the plot will remain pretty much the same. I might add a bit more James and Lily to this one though. Send me a review and let me know what you think! Chapters should be posted regularly!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 2

Twenty minutes later, Lily walked through the portrait hole looking very flushed. Sara and Nina got up and walked towards her.

"Oi! Where did you go, Lily?" Sara asked.

"Well, I tried to follow those guys to see where they were going." She saw the disapproving faces of her friends and began to explain,"I just wanted to make sure they weren't doing anything that would get them in trouble."

"So what were they doing then?" Nina asked her.

"I don't know. They met Peter near the dungeon hallway and kept going. I lost them half way through the castle. They just disappeared. Poof. Like that." Lily said waving a hand in the air.

"That's odd," Sara said, "where could those mental cases have gone?" Nina didn't say anything to her friends, but she had an idea of what might have happened to them. One late night last year, she was alone in the common room reading when she heard the portrait hole open, but didn't see anyone walk through the room. Just as she was about to continue reading her book, James appeared from underneath a cloak that had made him invisible. He didn't know she was sitting next to the fireplace. He walked straight up to the dorm without looking back. She never told anyone what she saw—she wasn't one to snitch on people. She had a certain suspicion about Remus and thought that maybe where the boys had gone had something to do with it, but she never dared say it out loud. Besides, she was sure he was trying to keep whatever it was a secret and she would never be the one to let anyone know what she thought for fear it was true.

The girls packed up their books and went back up to their dorm. As they were changing into their pajamas, they heard a noise—a howling sound.

"What was that?" Nina asked.

"Wait, shh," Lily said, "I heard something too."

"So did I," Sara added, "I hear it every month! Wait a minute, let me check something." She went to the window and looked outside. "I knew it!" she exclaimed, "There's a full moon tonight. I think it's a… werewolf."

Lily gasped and put her hand on her mouth and then said, "Oh my God! They're crazy. They went outside! They'll be killed!" Sara looked pale.

"Hold on guys," Nina began to say, "we don't know if they went outside. They're probably just in the castle somewhere. Besides, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore would know if we had a werewolf on the grounds." That seemed to make sense to Sara and her face returned to its normal color.

"You're probably right." Lily said a little anxiously, "But what if they did go out there?"

"Why do you care if Potter gets killed or not, Lily?" Sara asked slyly.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, and Sara raised her eyebrows in reply, "Please Sara, I don't hate the guy _that_ much that I'd want him killed. Besides, I like Remus and don't mind Sirius too much." Sara just shrugged her shoulders and they all went into their beds, each wondering what the boys were really up to.

The next morning, the girls got dressed and went out of their dorms to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Standing by the portrait door were Sirius and Peter, waiting for the rest of their friends. James walked briskly past the girls and joined Sirius and Peter. They started to walk out the hole when Sara asked, "Hey you guys. Where's Remus?"

"Remus? Oh, uh, he wasn't feeling so good last night so we took him to the hospital wing. He'll be back in the afternoon." James answered with rather shifty eyes. Nina knew that there was something amuck with his story. And, apparently, so did Sara for she blurted out, "Oh my goodness! I had a feeling you all went out. He was attacked wasn't he? Why did you guys go outside last night! There was a werewolf out there!" Sara gave Nina a quick furtive look, and Nina wondered what Sara was trying to do.

"Hey!" said Peter angrily, "who told _you_ about that? I thought we weren't supposed to say anything!" Sirius and James gave Peter a look of painful death and he turned scarlet.

"Oh..." Sara said and began to reason out loud, "Last night was a full moon. Remus didn't look so good and he usually looks pretty pale and tired once a month. You guys all left last night and now Remus is in the hospital wing." The boys all looked at each other in uncomfortable silence. Nina felt uncomfortable too for some reason. She now knew that her friends had been thinking the same thing as she had, but she didn't think Sara would actually confront Remus's friends about it.

Lily broke the silence by saying very solemnly to the boys, "Okay from the looks on your faces, it seems like whatever the case is, Remus doesn't want anyone to know. I'm assuming the Headmaster knows about this?" The boys all nodded in acquiescence. "Okay then, whatever. Let's just go eat breakfast."

Breakfast was unusually quiet and when the girls went back up to their dorms to get ready to study for their exams they began to discuss Remus's problem.

"Well, obviously." Nina replied to Lily after she told them that Sirius asked her to tell them not to say anything to Remus or anyone for that matter, "Why would we tell anyone. He's been here for six years. He's not dangerous or anything. We know him. He's our friend. I already knew anyways."

"I had a hunch too, actually," Lily said, "I guess once you know it for a fact, it sort of sinks in. You lose that little bit of hope that maybe it's not true." They heard some sniffling coming from under the blankets on Sara's bed. Nina and Lily went and sat on her bed next to her and asked her if she was alright.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said in a very stuffy voice, "I don't know why I'm upset. I get emotional sometimes." Nina hugged her friend and said, "I knew you were a softy. You just have a big mouth sometimes so people think you're tough. You're a complete marshmallow inside."

* * *

That day during lunch, Remus came back and joined his friends at the table. The girls all smiled at Remus and kept passing him food. He thought maybe they were acting a bit odd, but figured it was just his imagination. It wasn't until Sara offered him her pumpkin pasty that he realized something really _was_ odd. Pumpkin pasties were both of their favorites, and they always fought over the last one.

He looked at Sara straight in the eye and asked her, "Sara, are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" she asked him innocently.

"Why the heck are you giving me your pumpkin pasty?" he asked with some confusion.

"Oh, um…well, you look a little pale today. So I figured you might want uh…some extra…energy?" she said with a pathetic smile. He looked at her quizzically. And then he looked at everyone else around him. They were all smiling pathetically. He then turned to Sirius and James.

"What is going on?" he asked them. Nina saw them looking really uncomfortable, unsure of whether or not they should tell the truth. She didn't want Remus to be upset, he already had enough on his plate.

She felt he had to help them out so she said, "Yeah, what's going on guys? I thought you two said Remus had a stomach ache last night. Did something else really happen? Did you guys do something stupid and are trying to hide it with a lie?" Sirius and James looked surprised. They hardly ever heard Nina speak, and to hear her act so well had them stunned for a couple of seconds. Sara caught on to Nina's act.

"Well, whatever happened, I don't want to know. You guys are just weird." she said animatedly, "And gimme back my pasty if you're not gonna eat it, Lupin." She reached out to grab it when Remus grabbed her hand and said with a smile, "No, its okay. I'll keep it, thanks, Banana." Sara whacked Remus on the arm, "It's Bana, ass face."

Nina looked up after she was done eating and saw Sirius looking across at her with a slightly raised eyebrow and his hand on his chin, like he was trying to figure something out. _Is he looking at me?_ she thought to herself. She squinted her eyes at him slowly and he squinted his gray eyes back. She quickly looked away. She could feel her face getting warm. _What the hell was that? Geez, what's wrong with me. He just looks at me and I get so bloody embarrassed. Why does he have to be so damn hot? I better leave before he notices my face is the same color as the strawberries in his pie. _

* * *

A/N: I changed this chapter a bit. I didn't like the old version at all...hope it's better. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 3

As Nina walked up to platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station on September 1st, she couldn't believe how fast the summer had gone. Last term's exams had been a blur, and the summer even blurrier. So many things had happened during the holidays; her mind was still trying to deal with it all. She passed through the barrier and saw the Hogwarts Express. The platform was buzzing with students, all excited to begin a fresh new year. Nina felt a little sad knowing it was going to be her last time boarding the train here, as she lugged her trunk into an empty compartment.

Feeling a little warm after dragging her trunk, she took off her jacket. She felt a little self-conscious in the fitted t-shirt she was wearing, but was too hot to worry about it. She'd finally listened to Sara's nagging and gotten her hair cut over the summer and let it loose. She regretted not tying it up now—the heat was really getting to her. She started to fan herself with a book she was holding when a knock came on the compartment door and a curly brown head popped through.

"Sara!"

"Nina! Finally, I found you. I have been going through the corridors looking for you." Sara, looking prettier than ever, came bouncing into the compartment and hugged her friend. "Oh look at your hair! I told you you'd look good if you cut it a little. It looks great! How was your summer?"

"Eventful." Nina said with an uncertain smile.

"Really? You have to tell me all about it then." Sara said. She took out her press powder from her purse and was examining her perfect face in the mirror.

"Mmhmm," Nina nodded while putting her book back into her bag and then added, "So you didn't see Lily? The train is starting to move."

"Oh I saw her." Sara replied while putting her mirror away, "She's in the _Head's_ compartment."

"What? She made Head Girl? Good for her. She deserved it. Who made Head Boy?"

"I don't know. He wasn't there yet. Maybe it was Remus. I just hope it isn't a Slytherin. Could be Amos Diggory from Hufflepuff too." As soon as she said this a knock came on the compartment door and a whiny squeal following it. "Oh shit, " Sara said, "I almost forgot about her."

"Forgot about who?" Nina asked as Sara opened the compartment door. A girl with jet-black curly hair and blue eyes walked into the room looking rather cross with her face in a frown and her arms around her chest.

"You remember my little sister, Leena. She's starting first year." Sara ushered her sister into the compartment. Leena stopped frowning, looked at Nina and smiled shyly.

"Hey Leena, " Nina said ruffling Leena's hair, "You excited about starting at Hogwarts?"

"Only if I get into Gryffindor. I wanna stay with Sara." Leena replied.

Sara rolled her eyes and said, "She's a leech."

"Aww, that's sweet." Nina said and grabbed her purse, "Listen, I gotta go to the washroom. I'll be back."

"Wait," Sara interjected, "I need to go as well. Leena, you stay here and make sure no one takes over the compartment, okay?" Leena nodded obediently, sat down and took a book out of her bag and started reading.

When Sara and Nina came back out of the washroom and walked towards their compartment, they heard an exploding sound and a squeal coming from inside.

"Leena!" Sara gasped. They ran and quickly pulled open the door. Sitting around a deck of cards were Leena, Remus, and Peter. They all looked up as the girls came barging through.

"Oh! It's just you guys. What are you doing in here?" Sara asked exasperatedly and Leena spoke up proudly, "They didn't have an empty compartment and they asked me who was sitting here so I told them my sister and her friend and then they asked who my sister was so I told them it was you guys and then they said they were your friends too so I said they could sit here too and they had cards and said I could play exploding snap with them!" She said this all in one breath and looked so excited that Nina at least, could not help but smile at her. Sara looked less amused.

"It's nice to see you too, Banana. How was your summer?" Remus said while continuing to play their game.

"Not so bad, As—Remus." Sara said, checking herself. She had to make sure she didn't do or say anything that Leena would tell her parents about. If Sara had a big mouth, Leena's was even bigger.

"Hi, Nina. I almost didn't recognize you for a second. How are you?" Remus asked her with a warm smile.

"Fine, thanks." She answered taking a seat, "How are you doing?"

"Aah, okay I guess. Glad to be going back to school. Do you girls wanna play too?" Remus asked and they shook their heads no. He looked a little shabby and pale. Nina wondered if the full moon was due sometime soon.

"So where's the better half of your group?" Sara questioned him.

"Oh, well, James," he cleared his throat, "is in the _Heads_ compartment."

"Oh, you're kidding!" Sara squealed in delight, "James and Lily! Aah, Dumbledore is too good." Nina and Remus laughed at her mirth.

"Sirius is here somewhere. I think he went to the washroom or something. I'm sure he'll find us soon." As soon as Remus said this there was a knock at the door and Sirius opened it. As soon as Nina realized it was him, she felt herself tense up and her heart started to beat a bit faster. _Oh flip, not again_ she was thinking. _Why do I always get like this when this idiot is around me? I shouldn't feel like this…especially now, considering…_

"Oh here you guys are," he said while stepping into the compartment and closing the door behind him, "I accidentally walked in on two people who looked like they needed some privacy." He smiled and looked around the compartment. "Oh, hey Sara, how's it going?" she replied that she was fine and then he added, "Is that little person your sister? She kinda looks like you." Leena first looked offended that he had called her "little", but then smiled as soon as he had said that she looked like Sara.

Sirius was still standing when he turned his head and looked at Nina and seemed to be trying to remember who she was. _What a retard,_ Nina was thinking. _He's known me for six years and he doesn't remember my name. _

"Yeah, don't rack your brain, Padfoot. It's Nina. I didn't recognize her either for a second when I first saw her. Come join the next game." Remus seemed to know exactly what Sirius was thinking. Sirius seemed slightly embarrassed for not realizing it was her. Nina, on the other hand, was so embarrassed that she felt like her face was on fire. _Someone just throw me out the window. _Sirius took the empty seat across from her and started playing. Nina kept catching his eye accidentally and she started to feel really uncomfortable and self-conscious. _Stop looking at him you idiot,_ she told herself. _Why does he keeping looking up at me? Man, this t-shirt makes me look really…big…in certain areas. I need my jacket. Where is it?_ She looked around and saw it behind Leena.

Remus looked down at his watch suddenly. "Oh, I gotta run. Prefects meeting," he said while getting up towards the door, "I'll be back later with James and Lily." Peter got up quickly as well.

"Where are you going, Pete?" Sirius asked him.

"Oh, uh, washroom," he said in a squeaky voice and ran out. Sirius sighed and looked up towards Leena, "Well, looks like it's just me and you left, kiddo." This idea seemed to thrill Leena and Sara noticed it.

"Hey, hey. Watch out Black. Don't let Leena like you too much. She'll stick to you like glue." Sirius laughed and he started dealing the cards.

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." Sara muttered. She turned her attention back to Nina, "So, tell me about your summer, Nina." The girls talked while Leena and Sirius continued with their game. A little while later, Remus, Lily, and James joined them. To everyone's surprise, nobody (nobody being Lily) seemed to be in a particularly crusty mood. The meeting was successful, and James seemed to be behaving himself rather well around Lily. After the boys left, the girls changed into their school robes.

"So Lily, how was the 'ahem' meeting with the Head Boy?" Sara asked with a cheeky grin. Lily gave Sara an annoyed look and replied in a softer tone, "It was okay I guess. He didn't say anything too stupid. He seemed kinda nervous actually. It was funny."

"Aww, poor guy." Nina added, "I hope you weren't too mean to him. He's nice. He just acts stupid when you're around 'cause he's crazy about you."

"Yeah, yeah," Lily waved a hand impatiently, "I wasn't mean, don't worry. He wasn't acting stupid so I didn't really have a chance to be. I'm not some kind of monster you know!" The train started to come to a stop and Leena looked a little green; she was nervous about the sorting. As she left her sister to join the rest of the first years, Sara tried to give her some comforting words.

"Don't worry," she said, "you'll get into Gryffindor; I know it." Leena smiled and waved goodbye to the older girls and they all headed towards the horseless carriages and into the castle.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 4

Back at their dorm, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were unpacking their trunks, tossing the occasional smelly sock here and there.

"So, Padfoot," James began to say to Sirius while organizing his drawers, "what's got your tail in a knot?" Sirius looked at his friend with a confused look on his face.

"What do you mean?" he asked James.

"What he means," Remus interjected, "is that you were awfully quiet at the feast today."

"And you hardly ate anything." James added.

"What are you talking about? I had three helpings of everything!" he defended himself.

"Precisely." James said. "That's nothing for you. You usually have five at least."

"Oh." Sirius looked down into his trunk and started removing his books from it. "I dunno. Guess I wasn't that hungry or something." He knew his friends were still looking at him waiting for a more rational explanation, but he ignored them and continued unpacking. Knowing better than to bug Sirius when he was in a mood, James decided to change the subject.

"So," he began sounding very pleased with himself, "I went the whole day today without asking Lily out even once."

"Congratulations." Remus said dryly, "Here, have a cookie." He threw James an old biscuit that he had just found under his bed.

"Oh, yuck," James threw the cookie and Peter caught it, sniffed it, and ate it.

Sirius looked like the was going to throw up, "That was nasty, Wormtail." Peter just shrugged his shoulders and went into the washroom.

* * *

Back in the girl's dormitory, they were unpacking and discussing the latest gossip of the summer.

"So that's cool, Nina," Lily was saying while folding her clothes, "your sister got engaged this summer?"

"Yeah. The guy's from Canada. His family came over and we just had a little party at home. He seems nice and down-to-earth. He doesn't know about me being a witch though. I didn't want to cause any problems between them at this stage. She can tell him when she feels like it." Nina was explaining. There was much more to the story that Nina didn't tell her friends, but she didn't feel like she was ready to tell them just yet.

"Good thinking." Lily said thoughtfully, "My sister, Petunia, she got engaged last year and she didn't tell her fiancé, Vernon, that I was a witch. Actually, she didn't tell him about me at all."

"Well," Sara said huffily, "Petunia just doesn't want him to know that she has such a beautiful sister when she looks like a horse, because she's jealous!"

"Hmm, I'm sure that's not the case. But, speaking of beautiful, Nina you look so good! I swear I saw like at least ten guys checking you out." Lily said excitedly.

"Eww, gross," Nina said with a grimace. "Why would anyone do that? You're probably just imagining things, Lily." She started to change into her pajamas.

"No, Nina." Sara added, "I think I saw some guys looking at you, too."

"What?" she said with disbelief, "you guys are nuts."

"No really." Lily continued. "I even caught Black looking at you a couple of times."

"Oh please. I probably had something stuck in my teeth," Nina said dryly and went into the washroom. Lily and Sara just shook their heads.

"Nina will never believe this kinda stuff about her, you know." Sara said while getting into bed.

"Yup," Lily sighed, "someone has to hit her over the head before she'll even listen."

Nina came out of the washroom and climbed into her warm bed. She heard what Lily and Sara had said while she was in there. _Well,_ she thought to herself, _I did believe something like that before…just not at Hogwarts. _

A/N: Feel free to send me a review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 5

"In 1775, a wizard by the name of George Washington led the way to the revolution of the…" _Hmm_, _George Washington was a wizard? This is actually interesting. If only I could keep my eyes open, but Professor Binn's voice is so monotonous, _Nina thought while aimlessly twirling some strands of her hair.

"And then, in 1776..." The sound of the History of Magic Professor's voice soon became a low buzz that was threatening to sooth her into a deep sleep. _Wake up, wake up! _she kept telling herself. In an effort to stay awake, she started to doodle and pinch herself occasionally. Her doodle started to look like a tree and ended up looking like a haystack when her head and eyelids became too heavy to support themselves anymore.

The loud bang of a book dropping onto the classroom floor broke her reverie with a start. Hoping that nobody noticed her she looked around the floor and saw it was her book that lay sprawled on the ground. _Hmm, must've knocked it over or something._ Trying to pick it up inconspicuously she heard the sniggering of some boys from the back of the room. _Oh crap_, she thought_, did they notice me jerk out of my sleep? I hate it when that happens._

She slowly looked to her left and saw Lily, furiously trying to write down everything coming out of the professor's mouth, unaware of anything else going on around her. She looked to her right and saw Sara, fast asleep with her head on the table. _Well, at least I wasn't the only one sleeping. Oh, is she drooling? _She could still hear the boys behind her chuckling. She decided to turn her head around a little to see what was going on.

She looked behind her with a slightly annoyed-looking face. Remus, James and Peter were still laughing about something, unaware of her glare. Sirius, on the other hand, caught her glare, and made the same face she was making back to her. His look surprised her for a split second, and then she felt an urge to laugh. She just smiled and turned her head back around shaking it slightly thinking, _what is it with him and his weird ass faces? _

She poked Sara to wake her up; she looked up for a second, mumbled something about chocolate and fell back asleep. About a minute later, Professor Binns excused the class. Everyone jumped out of their seats and started scrambling for the door to get to the great hall for lunch. Sara was suddenly wide-awake and bubbling with energy.

"Pick up the pace, slow pokes! I'm hungry." She urged her friends. "I have to get to the pumpkin pasties before Lupin eats them all."

"Relax, Sara." Lily said while grabbing her books. "I'm sure he'll leave at least one for you."

"Are you crazy?" she responded frantically, "That greedyass pig won't leave me anything! I'll just go now and save you guys seats!" She ran out the door and left her two friends behind to take their time gathering their things. When they finally reached the Great Hall, Nina spotted two empty seats and Sara, with at least four pasties on her plate.

"Holy cow, did you take all of them or something?" Nina said to her friend while taking a seat.

"No." she replied, and then said in a louder voice, "I had to steal them from a certain someone who was trying to hog them all up!"

"Hey!" Remus's voice came indignantly from across the table, "I was saving them for you!"

"Yeah, right." Sara said rolling her eyes, "_Saving_. I'm sure. That's a good one, Remus." Remus had a slightly offended look on his face and was about to say something back when he thought better of it and continued eating his lunch. After they were done eating the girls got up to go outside on the grounds to get some fresh air. They found a shady spot under a big oak tree and sat down. Lily took out a spare parchment and started scribbling something down.

"Please, Lily. Put that stuff away and relax in the sun for a while." Sara said while laying herself down on the soft grass.

"Oh, I'm just jotting down some ideas for the Prefects meeting today. James and I are supposed to come up with some extra-curricular events for this year. You have any ideas?" Lily asked.

"Ooh!" Sara exclaimed getting up quickly and then said excitedly, "You've _got _to have a dance sometime this year. A fancy one—like a ball!"

"Oh, no." Nina moaned. "Don't do that, Lily. It's way too played out and cheesy. I don't think anyone will be interested in it."

"What?" Sara yelled, "Don't be such a boring ass, Nina! Everyone will love it! You just don't want to dress up and go with a guy. I know you."

"First of all, " Nina started to say seriously, "I don't really care about dressing up or going with a guy—I can go by myself for all I care. Second of all, what the hell is it with you and _ass_?"

"Okay, okay," Lily interjected, "you both are starting to sound like asses. Just relax. I'll put the idea through at the meeting and it'll be up to the Prefects to vote on it."

"Fine." Sara said resolutely as she lay back down on the grass.Nina just shrugged her shoulders and leaned up against the tree. _Great,_ Nina thought, _how am I gonna get out of this one. I hate dances. Sara's right. I do hate dressing up. And I definitely don't wanna go with a guy—I'll be too nervous. I can't go alone either—I'll look like such a loser. _

"What do you guys think of a talent show? Or a movie night?" Lily asked reading off of her parchment, "Game day?"

"Yeah," Nina said, "those are good ideas."

"A dance is the best idea though." Sara added, "Maybe you should make it a rule that the girl has to ask the guy to it. You know, to make it different." _Oh, hell no,_ Nina thought just as a guy's voice behind her said, "Now _that_ is a good idea." James and his buddies came around to where the girls were sitting and plopped themselves down on the grass. Nina unconsciously shook her head.

Remus saw her and said, "It _is_ a good idea, Nina. You can go with someone you actually like instead of the first loser who asks you and you feel sorry rejecting."

"I dunno," Nina said frowning, feeling a little uncomfortable talking about this with the guys.

"You're too shy, Nina." James added, "Don't be afraid of asking anyone. Nobody is gonna reject you, you know. Right, Sirius?" He patted Sirius on the arm to agree with him. _Oh for God's sake._ Nina thought, her face getting redder by the second. _Why does this always have to happen to me?_

Sirius seemed to be tapped out of some deep thought when James hit him and quickly said, "Oh…yeah." He gazed at her for a second and then returned to whatever he was thinking about.

Nina desperately wanted to change the subject so she said, "It's not that. I just don't like dances in general." She looked down on the grass and started picking at the blades.

"Well, too bad. You have to come if we have one." Sara said stubbornly.

"Of course she will." Lily said.

"Yeah, don't worry." Remus added to Nina. "Go with someone you know; like one of us guys. _I'll_ go with you. You don't even have to ask me—"

"What?" came a cry from Sara. She looked irate. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?' Remus demanded.

"Because! It just takes the fun out of everything. You can't go with her. She has to stop being so silly and immature about everything. If everyone's gotta do it, she can too. It's not a big deal! She doesn't need anyone's help!" Nina couldn't believe her ears. Why was Sara acting so strange and insensitive? She was always defending her before, and now she was just putting her on the spot and embarrassing her in front of everyone. Nina was so shocked she couldn't even say anything to defend herself.

Remus was about to say something back when James came in between them, "Okay everyone just calm down."

"Oh shut up, Potter! I am calm!" Sara stood up and stormed off, kicking a pebble on her way back into the castle. James had an expression on his face that meant "what did I do?" and Remus, Sirius and Lily looked surprised and slightly confused. Nina was still looking at the ground, not sure of had just happened.

She got up after a few seconds and while avoiding any eye contact with anyone mumbled quietly, "I'm gonna head to class." She walked away quickly so no one would follow her. She wanted to be alone. Her head was just buzzing with thoughts as she found her way back to the common room. _What was that all about? I didn't even say anything! Sara and Remus practically had their own conversation, making assumptions about me and then Sara goes and gets pissed off at me for no reason. Geez, she must be PMS-ing or something. That's still no excuse though to go off on me like that. What the hell! Those guys must all think I'm such a boring prude! Now nobody will ever want to go with me for sure… Well, maybe that's a good thing. I don't even know if I should be going with anyone since_—Nina gasped as the feeling of two arms grabbing her around the waist abruptly interrupted her thoughts.

A/N: Any feedback on this story would be greatly appreciated! Cheers.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 6

Nina looked down and saw two tiny arms around her waist. _What the heck,_ she thought. A squeal of a giggle then followed and Nina knew who it was. She removed the arms from her waist and turned around.

"Hey, Leena." She said. Leena was smiling so widely Nina was afraid her cheeks were going to pop.

"Hi, Nina! Did I scare you?" she giggled, "I saw you come in but you didn't look up."

"Oh, I must've been thinking about something." She said distractedly. "So, what's up? How are your classes going? Do you like them?"

"Yeah! They're great! I'm having fun here. The only thing I don't like is that I don't get to see Sara or you guys that much. You guys are too busy for me." she said with a mock puppy face frown.

"Aww, don't say that." Nina felt bad for forgetting about her. "I guess we just have a lot of work to do this year, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess." she said shrugging her shoulders, and then she took a small package out of her pocket, "Oh, can you please give this to Sara? I found it in my trunk. I think it's a pair of earrings or something that accidentally got mixed up with my stuff." She handed it to Nina. Nina took it not sure of how exactly she was going to give it to Sara, considering she probably didn't want to talk to her at this time. She didn't want Leena know anything that had just happened so she told her she'd pass it on to her sister.

Leena left her to rejoin her new friends and Nina put the package into her pocket. She walked out of the common room and started heading towards her next class, praying the whole way there that Sara didn't make it inside before her. She wanted to sit somewhere first so she wouldn't have the awkward decision to make of whether or not she should sit next to Sara. _Sara can make that decision,_ she thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, back outside where Nina left them, Lily and the boys were conversing over what had just taken place. 

"Well, that was awkward." Remus said. "I've never seen Nina and Sara have a row like that before."

"Well, they didn't exactly fight." James corrected him. "Nina didn't really say anything."

"It was more like _you_ and Sara had a row." Lily added.

"_Me?_" Remus said looking genuinely taken aback.

"Yeah, Nina just got stuck in the middle because of your stupidity." Sirius answered him dryly.

"What the heck did I do?" Remus asked him indignantly.

"Well what do you think Sara got all worked up about?" Sirius asked him back.

Remus answered him like it was obvious, "The fact that Nina didn't want to go to the dance?"

"Wrong! Guess again." Sirius then asked him intently, "What do you think _you_ said that made her upset?"

"Did _I_ say something? I don't know." Remus said and then added unsurely, "I suggested that Nina go with someone she knows?"

"Yes, someone in particular…" Sirius was leading him on.

"Oh. You mean me?" Remus asked in a slightly confused voice.

"Exactly."

"I don't get it." Remus looked at James for some support, but James was just shaking his head in disbelief.

"Oh please, are you that daft?" Sirius was getting annoyed by Remus's ignorance.

"Er…maybe." By this time, Remus looked highly uncomfortable. "Why would Sara get worked up about that?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Remus was getting anxious for an answer.

"Hmm…you know what Sirius," Lily began to say after some thinking, "I think you're right. I don't know why I never noticed it before."

"Noticed what?" Remus now looked truly desperate.

"Ha! If you're too stupid to figure it out on your own, that's your problem." Sirius was not in the mood to help out his friend. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

"What the hell!" Remus cried in frustration. He looked at Sirius's smug face and said angrily, "Why won't you tell me? Okay, and where the heck do _you_ come off? You've suddenly found your voice or something? You've been sitting around in La La Land all quiet and moody the whole time, and now you're all happy watching me suffer."

"What does that have to do with anything we're discussing right now?" Sirius asked him.

"I dunno." Remus answered dejectedly. "I'm just trying to divert the attention away from me for a while."

"Well, that's not going to happen." Sirius loosened his tie and reclined himself on the tree behind him.

"Okay that's it," Lily said while getting up, "I can't sit here and wait for Remus to get enlightened. I might be here forever. I'm gonna go and look for Nina before I head to class. Let me know his reaction when he figures it out."

"Oh wait, Lily," James got up to talk to her, "What time is the meeting tonight?"

"After dinner. Around eight."

"And we're proposing the dance idea, right?" he asked her.

"Yup."

"And the whole thing about girls asking the guys?"

"Sure." she said while checking something off of her parchment.

"Okay one more thing. Since we are the Heads, do er…we have to go _together_?" he asked uncertainly.

"No, I don't think so." Lily answered thoughtfully.

"Alright cool." James said with a smile of relief.

"Why? Was there someone else you wanted to go with?" she asked him curiously.

"Maybe." He said matter-of-factly.

"Oh." Lily looked surprised for a second, but then recovered herself. "Fine. Good. Okay see you guys later." She left quickly. James thought he had heard a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Is there really someone else you want to go with?" Remus asked him perplexedly.

"Nope. I just wanted to see her reaction." James said with a grin and plunked back down on the grass.

"So Moony," Sirius began again, "have you figured it out yet?"

"Figured out what?"

"The fact that Sara likes you." James couldn't take it anymore; he had to tell Remus what they were all thinking. Sirius looked slightly miffed at James for his betrayal of silence.

"Oh…What?" It took Remus a few seconds to register what James had just said.

"Yes, dimwit. It's pretty obvious." Sirius had to add.

"No." Remus said shaking his head in disbelief. "No way. How is it obvious? Are you guys mental? Why would she like me?"

"Because you're so sweet." James replied in a high-pitched voice.

"And devastatingly handsome." Sirius added with a sigh and one hand on his heart.

"Ooh, and you have such soft hands." James continued.

"Hmm, yeah my hands are pretty sof—oh please guys." Remus said stubbornly. "Don't be ridiculous. She doesn't like me. She's extra mean to me."

"Yeah, I think that's Sara's way of flirting." James said.

"You guys must be reading it all wrong." he said still shaking his head.

"Oh don't be so modest, Remus." Sirius was getting impatient again. "Girls like you, you know."

Remus looked at his friends somberly. "Okay, but _if_ you guys are right, which I don't think you are, what am I supposed to do?"

"Well, first of all," James asked, "do you like her?"

"Of course he does." Sirius butted in. "She's smart, pretty, and he enjoys flirting with her."—Remus looked like he was going to refute the last fact and Sirius wagged his finger at him—"Yes you do, Remus, don't deny it."

"Oh man." Remus looked down, his face turning a little pink. He raised his head up and said resolutely, "Well, it doesn't matter. I can't do anything. I can't start a relationship with secrets. If I tell her about my problem, she'll freak out. I don't want her to think I'm a monster and hate me. I'd rather just stay friends. At least we'd still be able to hang out."

"I don't think Sara is the type that would freak out." James said seriously, making sure not to betray the fact that he knew that she was already aware of his problem. "She's a really nice and understanding person. She just acts tough and pretends to be mean sometimes."

"Yeah I know that but…I dunno, man. I have to think about this." He looked sad for a minute but then his expression lightened up a bit with a thought. He and James stood up. "So…you guys really think she likes me?" he asked them with a wry smile.

"Well," Sirius said getting up and putting an arm around his friend's shoulder, "Why don't we just head to class and ask her?"

* * *

A/N: So…send me a review and tell me what you thought of this one! 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 7

Sirius, James, and Remus walked into the castle to get to their next class. Right before entering the classroom, Sirius realized that he forgot something in the common room that he needed. He left the others and started walking towards Gryffindor Tower. Nina was walking towards class from the common room when she saw Sirius walking in her direction. When they crossed paths, he stopped her for a minute and she looked up at him. _Oh no._

"Hey," he said with a sympathetic smile. "You okay?"

Nina couldn't look at him in the eye so she lowered her gaze and said, "Yeah, I'm just going to class." She looked up at him again and he was giving her a scrutinizing look.

"Are you sure?" he asked her.

She looked down again and shrugged her shoulders and sighed, "I guess."

"Hmm." He said thoughtfully slowly nodding his head and then added quickly, "Wait here a second. I've got to run and grab something from inside. I'll be back in less than two seconds." He dashed into the common room leaving Nina alone in the corridor. _Why does he want me to wait for him? _And then she realized, _Hey, he's actually saying something for a change. Wonder what happened. Maybe he feels sorry for me. Great. He probably thinks I'm a loser with one less friend. Humph, I don't need anyone's pity. Maybe I should just start walking_—but it was too late. Sirius had already reappeared and was by her side again.

"Sorry," he started to say while they walked towards the classroom, "I saw Leena in the common room and she practically jumped me."

"Oh yeah?" Nina said smiling slightly, "She's an affectionate kid."

"Yeah," he agreed with her, "hyper too."

"Mmhmm. So," she wanted to change the subject, afraid speaking of Leena would lead to Sara, "you guys are all taking Muggle Studies?"

"Yes, well, James sort of forced us to take it with him. I think he signed up for it when he found out Lily was taking it." Sirius said to her.

"Aah. That's why you guys are taking it. I thought maybe it interested you."

"Well, it isn't so bad, actually. Some stuff is pretty interesting." And then he asked her, "So why are you guys taking it? You probably know more about that stuff than the professor does."

Nina explained to him that Lily was interested in hearing about muggles from a wizarding point of view, and that she herself had only taken it for an easy mark. "Sara just took it because we were." she said.

"I see." Sirius said understandingly. Talking about Sara made Nina remember what had just happened. She tried to put it out of her mind, but now that they were standing outside of the classroom she started to feel uneasy again. She didn't want to walk in there alone and see Sara, especially if Lily wasn't there yet. Her uneasiness died away however, when the sound of her name came from behind her. She turned around and saw Lily walking briskly towards her. Sirius told her that he'd see her inside and left her with her friend.

"Where have you been?" Lily asked her with concern. "I was looking for you everywhere."

"Nowhere." she answered listlessly. "I was just in the common room and now I'm here."

"Oh." Lily asked her with some uncertainty, "So, did you see Sara by any chance?"

"Nope." Nina looked down at the ground. She suddenly felt like crying.

"Okay never mind," Lily said bracingly and took Nina's arm, "I don't think she meant what she said, Nina. She was projecting her frustration in the wrong place without knowing it. She'll realize she was being stupid and come to you. Don't worry about it too much."

"Yeah, whatever." Nina shrugged. "Let's just go inside." They walked into the classroom and saw the boys sitting towards the back of the room. Sara wasn't there. There were a few empty seats in front of James, Remus and Sirius. Sirius and James smiled at the girls as they came forward. Remus seemed to be reading his book rather intently, his face a little pink. Nina and Lily sat down, leaving the desk next to Nina empty.

The class started and Sara still hadn't shown up. The professor announced that there would be a group project that the students would be working on for the next few weeks. The project would be based on an analysis of a muggle profession.

"You will be working in groups of three," she was explaining, "and before you start choosing your best friends to work with, let me tell you that _I_ will be picking the groups."

There were a couple of groans from the students and the professor continued speaking. "Now, to make it fair, I'm simply going to go down my class list in alphabetical order and group you. This will make my life much easier as well."

Lily looked at Nina and they both looked disappointed. They didn't want to get stuck with anyone who didn't work well with them. Nina started thinking about who else's last name started with an A. She couldn't think of anyone so she went to the B's. _Oh damn. Bana. I'm gonna have to work with Sara. _

And, sure enough, when the professor started calling off the names, Nina's and Sara's were right next to each other. "Okay, let's see. Aydin, Bana, and Black. You're one group." _Oh shit! Bana **and** Black! What the hell am I going to do? _Nina put her head down on the table.

The professor continued on with her list, "Chang, Diggory, Evans." Nina put her head up and looked at Lily. She didn't look too disappointed. Anthony Chang and Amos Diggory were pretty smart, and not bad looking either. Nina could hear a distinct grumble of contempt coming from James behind her. After a couple more groups were formed she announced, "Lupin, Pettigrew, Potter." She looked up at the grinning boys sitting next to each other and then looked back down on her list with a confused look on her face.

"Wait, that can't be right…anybody have a last name starting with M, N or O that I missed?" Nobody answered her. "Hmm. Okay must be a smaller class then. That's fine." The girls could hear the boys behind them chortling about something.

As soon as the professor finished reading off her list, the door of the classroom opened, and in walked Sara. The boys' chattering suddenly stopped and Nina could feel the tension rise in the air. The professor glanced at Sara and continued explaining the terms of the project. Sara walked slowly towards the back of the class, looking for an empty spot. There were two empty chairs three rows down from where Nina and Lily were sitting, and there was the empty seat next to Nina.

Nina could feel her heart beating. _Why do I feel so apprehensive? Man, I can't stand having people mad at me. It makes me feel sick to my stomach_. She started biting her nail when she looked up and caught Sara's eye. Sara looked at her with a discomfited face and her eyes looked a little red. _Maybe she's afraid I'm mad at her,_ Nina thought. _I can't stand this anymore. I should let her know that I don't mind her sitting next to me. It'll be up to her to sit down if she wants to_…

Nina put her hand up and gave Sara a small wave and pointed to the seat next to her. Sara let out a slow breath. Nina could see the relief spread on Sara's face as she walked up the empty seat and sat down next to her.

Sara took out a piece of parchment, started scribbling something down with her quill and passed it to Nina. Nina read it. '_What did I miss?' _she wrote. Nina picked up her quill and wrote back _'Group project—me, you and Sirius are together." _She passed it back to Sara, who read the note and nodded. Sara let out a sigh and stared down at her table. Nina bent down to pick up her book when she felt something in her pocket. She reached her hand in it and took out the package that Leena had given her.

She scribbled a note to Sara telling her it was her package from her sister and passed them to her. Sara took the package and her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. She got up and quickly left the classroom. Nina and Lily watched her go out, unsure of what to do.

Lily poked Nina and mouthed to her to go and follow Sara, so she got up and left the room. As soon as she shut the classroom door, she saw a curly head turn into the girls' washroom down the hall. Nina followed her inside and saw Sara standing by the sinks, crying.

"Sara," Nina came to her and grabbed her by the hands, "what is going on? Why are you crying?" Sara, still crying, leaned her head on Nina's shoulder and hugged her. Nina hugged her back tightly.

"I'm sorry," came Sara's muffled voice through her tears, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't even remember what I said. I just know I said something stupid. Everyone probably thinks I'm an ass now."

"Oh, don't be silly." Nina said patting Sara's back, "Everyone already knew you were an ass." Sara started to laugh through her tears.

She lifted her head back up and started to wipe her tears away. "You're probably right. I'm sure Remus thinks I'm mental. I totally spazzed at him for doing something nice for you. I'm horrible."

"No, you're not, Sara." Nina said sternly.

"No seriously, Nina. I got so mad when he said he'd go with you to the dance." she said stubbornly, and then added in a quieter voice, "I got _jealous_."

"Well, you retard, I wasn't going to let him take me anyways!" Nina started to rant, getting everything out of her system, "You guys kept talking between yourselves and you didn't even let me say anything. I know you like him, you know. It's pretty obvious. I wouldn't purposely try to hurt you that way. What kind of a friend do you think I am?"

"I know, I know," Sara said indolently, "maybe I was just afraid that maybe Remus liked you."

"Oh please." Nina said rolling her eyes. "If he _did_, he would've been too shy to ask me to go with him like that. We're just friends, believe me. And besides, how could he possibly think of me that way, when _you're_ available?"

Sara smiled and said huffily, "Whatever, Nina. You have no idea. You have this aura around you. I catch guys staring at you all the time. You're so pretty, inside and out. The more people know you, the more beautiful you get."

"Oh shut up," Nina told her, "you're getting way too cheesy for me. Let's head back to class."

Sara turned around and looked at her face in the mirror. "Ugh," she said making a disgusted face, "I look like ass." Nina laughed and yanked her friend away from the mirror and headed back to the classroom.

* * *

A/N: Okay had to get this sappy moment out and over with...no more, I promise! Thanks for the reviews! 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 8

That night when Nina went to bed, she thought about what had happened that day. By the time she and Sara returned to their Muggle Studies class, the professor had already dismissed it. Lily was waiting inside the classroom with their books getting very worried about her friends. When she saw them come in together smiling, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, it's about time you guys came back!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry, Lily. We didn't realize we took so long." Nina said while gathering her things together.

"Man, I'm starving!" Sara said while picking up her bag.

"Really," Lily said giving Sara a cynical smile, "so I'm guessing everything is okay now?"

"Yes, yes." Nina said smiling. "Everything is ancient history. Right, Sara?"

"Of course." Sara told her while they walked out of the classroom and towards the Great Hall for dinner. "I don't even know what you're talking about."

When they entered the hall, they went to sit at their usual table. Remus, and Peter were sitting with their backs towards the girls, and Sirius and James were across them. Sitting next to James and talking very animatedly with him was an attractive blonde. Sirius looked up from his plate and saw the three girls smiling and walking together, and he said something to Remus across the table. Nina saw Remus turn his head slightly around to glance at them, and then quickly turned back around.

"Can we please sit away from those guys tonight?" Sara whispered exasperatedly. They found some empty spots on the other side of the long table and sat down.

"Man, how do you eat so much and stay so thin?" Nina asked Sara, who was filling her plate with food.

"High metabolism." she said matter-of-factly as she stuck a fork full of mashed potatoes into her mouth. Nina looked across at Lily, who was glaring at something at the other end of the table. She looked at Nina and Sara and asked, "Who is that girl talking to James?"

"Oh," Sara said gazing at the blonde girl, "I think she's some sixth year from Hufflepuff. Apparently, she's got all these guys after her asking her out, but she says she only dates Quidditch players."

"Hmm," Nina said, "Looks like she's got her eye on a _particular _Quidditch player."

"I see." Lily said curtly and started piling mashed potatoes on her plate. Nina and Sara both exchanged significant glances and continued eating.

When they returned to Gryffindor Tower, the girls went up to their dorm to change out of their robes and into some more comfortable attire.

"I feel like going for a walk." Sara said while putting on her jeans. "You guys wanna come?"

"Sure, I'll come." Nina said while slipping on a t-shirt and grabbing a black zipped hoodie.

"I can't." said Lily distractedly as she grabbed her bag. "I've got that Prefect meeting in about ten minutes. You girls go ahead, I've got to go. I'll see you later." Lily left to her meeting and Sara went into the washroom. Nina told her that she would meet her in the common room and headed down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom, Nina instinctively put on the sweatshirt that she was holding. Her hair got stuck underneath the back of her hoodie so she put her hands behind her neck and flicked her hair out. She was fixing her hair to side the when she heard her name being called in a squeaky voice from across the room.

She looked up and Leena was waving at her enthusiastically, with Sirius and Peter sitting on the couches next to her playing wizard's chess. Leena got up and ran towards her and asked, "Did you give Sara her package?"

Nina replied that she did and Leena went on excitedly saying, "I'm hanging out with these guys. You know, I asked Sirius who he thought the prettiest girl in the whole school was and he told me to tell him who _I_ thought was the prettiest first, so I told him that I thought _you_ were."

"Me?" Nina exclaimed in a surprised voice and then said resolutely, "Don't be silly. You need to get your eyes checked, kid. Sara and Lily are much prettier than I am."

Leena looked at Nina intently and said in a slightly whiney voice, "No, but I like your hair. It's sooo pretty. I wish my hair was like yours. I even saw Sirius looking at you just now. He was looking at something for a while and he wasn't paying attention to the game and I looked over to what he was looking at and that's when I saw you."

"Don't be ridiculous." Nina scolded her, her face feeling a little warm, "I'm sure he was looking at something else. And anyways, I would die to have your perfect curly locks."

Leena frowned for a second and then her face lit up again after she remembered that she had to finish telling the rest of her story. "So yeah, then I asked Sirius who he thought the prettiest girl was, and guess who he said?"

"You?" Nina asked.

"Hey! How did you know?" Leena said with wide eyes and then continued, "So I told him 'no, it has to be an older person', and guess who he said?" Leena looked like she was going to burst if she couldn't say the answer right then so Nina shook her head saying she didn't know and Leena screamed, "Professor McGonagall!"

"What about that old bat?" came Sara's voice bouncing down the stairs, and Leena yelled loud enough for everyone in the common room to hear, "Sirius thinks Professor McGonagall is hot!"

"Hey!" Sirius yelled at Leena from across the room, although still focusing on his chessboard, "I thought the conversation we had was private!"

Sara laughed out loud, "Nothing with Leena is ever private, Sirius. Remember that next time you confess your deepest darkest secrets to her." She turned to Leena and told her that they were going for a walk and asked her if she wanted to come.

"No, thanks." Leena said, "I'm playing next round of chess with Sirius."

Sara looked at Leena skeptically and said, "Don't you have any friends your own age?"

"Yeah," Leena replied and said with a grimace, "but, I got bored of them. All they do is talk about boys. Eww." Sara rolled her eyes and grabbed Nina's arm and they left to go for their walk.

When Sara and Nina returned from their walk and went up to their dorm, Lily was already up there, reading a book.

"How was the walk?" Lily asked them closing her book.

"Oh, it was really nice outside. You missed it." Nina said while taking off her sweatshirt.

"How was the meeting?" Sara asked Lily.

Lily shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. We decided on having the dance. But, unfortunately, we lost the vote on the whole girls asking the guys to it thing."

"What?" Sara exclaimed with disappointment. Nina let out a sigh of relief.

"I think most of the girls at the meeting were too intimidated to do it so there was a big argument. We finally voted and lost by one vote," Lily explained, "but we decided on having a muggle dress code. So, no dress robes." Sara still looked disgruntled.

"I see." Nina said, cheering up at prospect, "So what else happened?"

"Nothing." Lily said in a slightly dejected manner.

"Are you sure?" Sara added. "You look kinda bummed out, Lily."

Lily shrugged. "Maybe I'm just tired."

"So where did everyone go after the meeting? The common room was pretty empty when we came up." Nina said.

Lily let out an annoyed breath and said, "Well, when the meeting was over and we left the room, that blonde skank was waiting outside. She came up to James and told him she needed to talk to him in _private_, and took him away to an empty classroom. Man, you should've seen what she was wearing. You'd think we were in the Bahamas or something. Anyways, so he left and then Remus said he had to meet Sirius and Peter in the kitchens or something. So I just came here on my own."

"So what are you so annoyed about?" Sara asked her.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked her back. "I'm not annoyed."

"Oh please, Lily." Nina said abruptly. "We've been living with you for more than six years. We know when you're pissed off at something."

"I am not pissed off." Lily said pointedly. "Just tired. And irritated for some reason. Maybe I'm stressed out or something." She let out a sigh and jumped out of bed and went into the washroom, shutting the door behind her.

"Whoa." Sara said and then a mischievous smile spread on her face. "She is so jealous!"

* * *

A/N: Next chapter coming soon! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll post! Heh heh heh... 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 9

"I feel stupid." Sara said sullenly the next morning while the girls were changing into their school robes.

"About what?" Nina asked her.

"About Remus." she answered, "I've been avoiding him like the plague."

"Er…not really, Sara." Lily said while applying some lip-gloss and examining her face in the mirror. "You just didn't sit near him at dinner last night, and you haven't bumped into him since then."

"Yeah but still." Sara said looking gloomy. "I don't like it. I don't feel like myself."

"So, just be yourself then." Nina said to her as they started to make their journey towards the Great Hall.

"Fine." she said in agreement, "I'll just pretend nothing happened." They walked into the hall and spotted Remus, Sirius and Peter sitting at the end of a table.

"Move your ass over Lupin, I want to sit here." Sara said abruptly with her hands over her hips. Remus, looking completely stunned, turned his head to the left and stared at Sara like she was mad, and then turned his head back in front and looked at Sirius, apparently waiting for some divine revelation to tell him what to do. Sirius, using his hands, motioned Remus to move over. Remus, still looking dumb, moved over and Sara plopped herself down next to him and started helping herself to some breakfast. Lily sat near Sirius, and Nina sat down next to her. About halfway through breakfast, James walked into the hall looking very sleepy. He meandered his way to the table and sat on the other side of Sirius.

"Late night, Potter?" Lily asked as James was pouring himself some orange juice. James gave a big yawn, ruffled his hair, and turned his head towards Lily.

"Hmm?" he said.

"Never mind." Lily said with a frown and continued eating. James shrugged his shoulders and drank his juice.

"Oh, Lily," James said when he was done, "did you want to get together tonight to work on those reports for Professor Dumbledore?"

"I can't." Lily replied sternly, "I'm meeting with Amos and Anthony tonight to work on the outline due next week for the Muggle Studies project."

"Oh." James said a little sullenly. "Okay, maybe tomorrow then." Nina looked across at Sara with a slightly perplexed face and saw Sara looking at her the same way.

"What outline?" Sara exclaimed. "We have something due? Oi, Black! You didn't tell us anything!"

Sirius's head shot up, "Oh damn!" he said looking guilty and slightly frightened by Sara's fierce glare, "I completely forgot to tell you lot about it."

"No shit, Sherlock." Sara said angrily. "We don't even know what the bloody hell we're doing!" Nina looked at Sirius and was slightly amused at how scared of Sara he looked.

"It's not my fault that you two decided to walk out of class!" he said defensively.

"Well, you can thank _this_ guy for that!" she said jabbing a finger at Remus. Remus moved over a little putting one hand over his face, looking even more scared than Sirius had.

"Okay, okay." Nina said finding the nerve to speak loudly over their voices, thinking that they would never find out what they had to do if they kept arguing like this. "Sirius," she said and he turned his head to her, "did you pick a topic for us?"

He stared at her for a second and she raised her eyebrows at him expectantly, waiting for an answer. "Oh," he said very slowly, "yeah, I did."

"And it is…?" she asked him expectantly. He was still staring at her as if trying to remember what it was she was talking about.

"Black!" Sara suddenly yelled, "We all know Nina's beautiful, but stare at her on your own time. What the heck are we doing the project on?" Sirius turned his head to Sara, looking taken aback and a little embarrassed at the same time. Nina had the sudden urge to dump a pitcher of pumpkin juice on Sara's head.

Still looking at Sara he said uneasily, "Er, I didn't really know what to pick or what you lot wanted to do, so I just uh—randomly picked one of the first ones. It's some comparative analysis of doctors versus healers or something."

"Oh…Okay, that sounds cool." Sara said sounding satisfied. "Alright, Nina?" she asked Nina. Sirius didn't turn to look at Nina this time, keeping his eyes on the table or Sara.

"Yeah, it's fine." Nina answered her. "Let's work on it tomorrow afternoon if you guys have time."

Sara nodded at her, "Right, let's just get it over with. That good with you, Sirius?"

"Sure, whatever you two want." he replied quietly and went on with finishing his breakfast.

Nina was just about to get up from the table when the sight of an owl flying above her head stopped her. She recognized it as her own as it dropped a letter onto her lap. She opened the letter and saw the familiar handwriting of her mother. She read the letter quickly, frowning as she went through it. _Great,_ she thought. _She's giving me an ultimatum now. As if I don't have enough stress to deal with this year. I have until December to make a decision that's going to affect the rest of my bloody life.  
_

Lily noticed that Nina looked somewhat vexed and asked, "Everything alright, Nina?"

Nina sighed and folded the letter back up. "Yeah, fine. It's just my mother. Asking about school and stuff. The usual." She faked a smile at Lily and got up. "I'll meet you guys in class."

* * *

Throughout the day, Nina kept thinking about what her mother had written to her. She hardly paid attention in any of her classes, and didn't recall half of the conversations that took place around her during dinner or in the common room with her friends afterwards. Her mind was so preoccupied that she walked right into Sirius while heading up to the dorm. Had it been any other day, she would've died of embarrassment, but she just mumbled an apology indifferently and kept walking up. Even when she lay down that night in her bed, her mind was distracted. Deciding that she was too stressed to sleep, she grabbed a book and went out of the dormitory, heading down to the common room.

When she was coming down the stairs to the common room, she thought she heard the portrait hole open. But, when she reached the bottom, she saw that nobody was there. The common room was completely empty; everyone had already gone to bed. Nina sat down on the couch next to the fireplace comfortably with her legs crossed and started reading her book.

After reading only a couple of pages, her eyes started to feel strained. She put her book down and stretched her arms up and then ran her hands through her hair and sighed.

"Man, I've got to stop stressing out over this. I'll go crazy," she said to herself. She picked up her book and got up. She started walking towards the stairs when she thought she heard a swishing noise behind her. She quickly turned around to see where it came from, but no one was there. _Hmm, must be my imagination_, she thought to herself and continued walking up the stairs and into her dorm.

* * *

Up in the boys' dormitory, James, Remus and Peter were sitting around waiting for something impatiently. When James saw the door to the dorm open and close by itself he said with a sense of relief, "Finally. What took you so long?"

Appearing from under a cloak, Sirius said, "Sorry, I got stalled."

"We were afraid you got caught or something. What happened?" James asked him with concern.

"Well as soon as I entered the common room, I saw someone walking down the stairs, so I had to wait for them to come down so I could pass." Sirius explained.

"Was it Lily?" James asked with curious enthusiasm.

"Er—no, it wasn't Lily." Sirius answered.

"Was it Sara?" Remus asked looking a little afraid.

"No, it wasn't Sara either."

"So who was it then?" Peter joined in the conversation.

"Oh, uh, I dunno. I didn't really get a good look. It was er, kinda dark." Sirius answered guardedly. _Why did I just lie about that?_ He thought to himself, _I think I'm going mad_. The truth was that Sirius did get a good look at whom it was. When he entered the portrait hole, he saw Nina coming down the stairs, so he froze as to not make any noise. She was holding a book, and headed to the couches near the fireplace.

Sirius still didn't move after she sat down and started reading. He stood there watching her curiously; she looked a little sad about something. He saw her put the book down and stretch her arms. He could feel his heart beat a little faster. _Why am I still standing here? Move, you idiot! _She ran her hands through her long dark hair and sighed. Sirius still couldn't move; his eyes were glued to her. It wasn't until he heard her mutter something to herself about going crazy that he broke his deep penetrating stare. She got up and walked towards the stairs and he followed her, taking steps when she did so she wouldn't hear him. She must have heard something though, because she turned around all of a sudden. He froze again, holding his breath. Her light brown eyes stared right into his grey ones and he thought for a second that she could see him, but then she turned back around and went up quickly. Sirius waited until she was gone before heading back up the stairs.

"So, did you get it?" James asked him excitedly. Sirius, his thoughts being broken, looked up at James and remembered why he went out in the first place.

"Of course I did!" he said cockily. "It was a piece of cake. Ol' Sluggy is getting a little sloppy with his security system." Sirius passed James a small phial of a bright blue liquid.

"Ah, wicked." James said while examining the phial.

"Why are we getting all this stuff now? We have until Halloween; that's more than a month away." Remus said to James.

"Because." James said firmly. "I want this to be foolproof. It's our last Halloween here. It has to be perfect."

"You know Lily is going to kill, don't you?" Remus asked him with a wry smile.

"Well, that's a risk I'm willing to take." He said solemnly, like a general ready to sacrifice his life for his country. He took the phial and hid it safely in his trunk.

* * *

When Nina woke up the next morning, she somehow felt better about what her mother had written her. _If it's gonna happen, its gonna happen_. She reasoned with herself. _There's no point moping about it. Screw it. I might as well make the best of the time I have here and enjoy myself._ When Nina entered the library in the afternoon, she spotted Remus sitting alone at a table. She plopped her books on the table and Remus looked up.

"Hey." she said, "Where is everyone"

"I don't know about _everyone_, but Sirius is on his way." Remus replied.

"Oh okay. Sara is on her way, too." She looked at Remus with a half smile.

"I see." he said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. Nina sat down across Remus and opened her book.

"Hey," she said remembering something, "were one of you guys down in the common room last night around midnight?"

Remus answered her uneasily, "I don't know." And then added curiously, "Why?"

"Oh nothing really." Nina said nonchalantly. "I was downstairs reading and I thought I heard someone down there. I figured later it might have been one of you guys under that invisibility cloak."

"How do you know about the cloak?" he asked surprised.

"Oh," she said with a mock serious expression, "I have my connections."

"No, seriously. Tell me." Remus said pressingly.

Nina was evidently enjoying her new attitude and secret intelligence, "Don't worry about it." she said with a cheeky grin, "Anyways, I know much more than you all think." She was still smirking when she looked up and saw Sirius walk up behind Remus.

Nina cleared her throat and looked back down at her book.

"Hey, what's up?" Sirius said taking a seat next to Remus. Nina looked up and gave him a quick smile.

"Well," Remus said to Sirius, "Nina was just saying that she was in the common room last night."

"Oh." Sirius said with an interested look, "Was she?"

"Yeah." Remus continued, "She thinks that maybe one of us was down there with an invisibility cloak."

"Really." Sirius said looking at Nina with a piercing look. "How would Nina know about that?"

"Nina knows lots of things." Remus said to Nina with a smile.

Nina smiled back at Remus and nodded saying, "Yes she does." She looked at both of them now and asked, "So? Who was it? I bet it was one of you two."

Remus was about to say something when Sirius interjected. "Nobody." he said. "We were all up in the dorm last night." Remus gave Sirius a confused look.

"Oh come on, you can tell me. I don't care if someone was down there. I just wanna know." she persisted.

"I'm telling you, no one was down there with you." Sirius said firmly. Nina looked at Remus hoping to get some information out of him, but he just shrugged and started reading his book again.

"Fine." Nina said disappointingly, "Don't tell me then." She looked at Sirius with a frown and went back to her book. _Git. Does he think I'm going to tell on them or something? Gees._ She read a couple of lines from her book and then looked up again and saw he that was watching her with an almost amused expression. _What is this idiot smiling at? Damn, he has a nice smile._ She scowled at him again and looked back down. She could still feel his gaze on her. _Oh my goodness, what is his problem? What is he staring at me for?_ Nina put her hand on her forehead to cover her face. She moved her hand up a little so she could look at Remus hoping for some intervention, but he was glued to his book.

When she couldn't take it anymore, she said to Sirius in an annoyed tone, "Can you please stop staring at me like that."

Sirius reclined back in his chair. "Why?" he asked her keenly. "Does it bother you?"

"Yes, it does." She answered seriously. She looked away from him and saw Sara coming to the table.

"Hey guys!" The sound of Sara's voice made Remus jump up and out of his seat with a start.

"I, er, have to go." Remus started to say in a quivering voice, "I've got a—uh, meeting…somewhere."

"You're not leaving because of me, are you?" Sara asked ardently.

"No." Remus answered, sitting back down quickly.

"Why did you sit back down, then?" Sara asked, still standing close to him.

"Oh." Remus said getting up again, clearly not knowing what he was doing.

Sara bent down and picked up Remus's books off the table and dropped them into his hands. "Here you go." she said cheerfully. "Have fun at your meeting." She sat down in his seat and started taking out her own books.

Remus muttered something unintelligible and left the library. As soon as Remus was gone, Sara turned to Sirius, "Did he really have a meeting?"

"Um..." Sirius said, thinking to himself, "Yeah, actually, he did. I hope he knows that."

"Oh well." Sara said, "So did you guys do anything about the project yet?"

"No," Nina said, "we were waiting for you."

"Yeah." Sirius added, "Plus, Nina was too busy trying to flirt with me to do any work." Nina looked at him indignantly and he gave her a playful sneer.

"Ha!" Sara laughed dryly. "Nina? Flirt? Now _that _would be the day." Nina smiled triumphantly at Sirius and they started working on their outline. _Damn, she has a nice smile_, Sirius thought to himself, _I have to be careful. This girl is going to give me some trouble; I can feel it. _

* * *

A/N: Okay I decided to post this chapter up early because I'm in a good mood. Next chapter should come tomorow night, but if I don't get any reviews, I'll think about waiting a liiiittle longer... or, if I get lots of reviews, I'll post it earlier! Haha! 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well. 

CHAPTER 10

The trees on the grounds outside of the school were filled with brightly colored leaves of orange, red, and yellow. It was a week before Halloween, and the seventh year students at Hogwarts had never been busier. Time seemed to have flown away, like the leaves now falling off the trees.

It was late one afternoon when Nina, Sara and Sirius found themselves in the library again, working on a report for their project. A few tables away from them, Lily, Anthony Chang and Amos Diggory were also working on their assignment.

"So why aren't James, Remus, and Peter working in the library? It looks like everyone in our class is here except for them." Sara asked Sirius while scanning the library.

"They're done their report already." Sirius answered while taking some notes.

"Already?" Nina asked with surprise.

"Yep." he said still taking notes diligently. "They were done a few days ago."

"So what were they working on yesterday in the common room?" Sara asked skeptically.

Sirius looked up at Sara and smirked, "Extra-curricular assignment," he said and went back to his notes.

Nina looked confused and was about to ask him, "What ex—", when Sirius put his finger to his lips and said, "Shh. Don't ask me any annoying questions, Nina. You've already bugged me enough today."

"Hey!" she said to him indignantly, "It wasn't _my_ fault that you decided to do my part of the report instead of your own."

"Yes, it is." he responded.

"How?" Nina asked him. "I wrote down everything that everyone needed to do. You should've paid more attention."

"I don't care. I know you must've done something stupid. You always do. Like last week, when you almost handed in your Transfiguration report for our group project. " Nina could tell that he was just bugging her on purpose now. He continued talking, "You know Nina, I always thought you were smart. But ever since we started working together, I've come to realize that you're actually quite thick."

"Mmhmm," she said dryly while writing, "you told me that yesterday, along with the fact that I am too naïve and innocent." Over the few weeks that they had been working on the project, Sirius developed a penchant for teasing Nina. At first, she used to get very embarrassed by the attention and not say anything back. Sirius had found her shyness very amusing and persisted in taunting her. But now, Nina had gotten used to him, and wondered why she had been so shy to talk to him in the first place.

"Well, that I was serious about. You _are_ very naïve and innocent. If I wasn't here to look after you, I don't know how you would've survived these past few weeks." he said in a very authoritative tone.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Nina asked him bemusedly.

"Don't you remember what happened last week?" he tried to say seriously. Nina started to laugh.

"Oh my God." She was still laughing. "That was just you being paranoid for nothing."

"What happened last week?" Sara asked, joining the conversation again.

"Oh nothing." Nina said exasperatedly. "Sirius caught me talking to Severus Snape and he got all crazy."

"Why?" Sara asked, "What's wrong with Snape?"

"He's a greasy git, that's what," Sirius said angrily, "and he's dangerous. There's no reason for you to be talking to him."

"Okay, okay. I don't want to have this argument again." Nina said rolling her eyes. "I was only asking him something about a Potions lesson anyways."

"You can ask me next time." he scolded her.

"Oh shut up, Sirius." Sara said with a smile. "You sound like an over-protective big brother." For a second that thought seemed to disgust Sirius, but then he smiled.

"Good." he said in an authoritative voice. "You stupid girls need one. You don't know what's happening out in the real world."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Nina said getting irritated by his preaching. "Be quiet and finish the stupid report, I wanna get outta here."

A short time later, Sara was lazily gazing over at Lily's table and said, "You know, Anthony Chang is kinda cute."

Sirius looked at Anthony as if checking him out. "Oh yeah," he said, "he's hot."

"No, seriously." Sara went on, "If he asked me out, I think I'd say yes."

"Hell, why wait for him to ask you? Why don't you just do it?" Sirius asked her.

"You think I should?" Sara asked him back.

"Yeah, go for it. I dare you." he answered with a smirk.

"Sara, don't be stupid." Nina butted into the conversation. "You don't like Anthony."

"How do you know?" Sara asked her sounding affronted.

Nina answered her sternly, "Because you like Remus."

Sara scoffed and said, "Well that doesn't matter. Remus obviously doesn't like me enough to ask me out so I'm just going to have to explore other options."

Nina was about to protest what she had just said when Sirius said earnestly, "He likes you a lot, Sara. You know why he doesn't ask you out."

"Yeah well, that just means he doesn't trust me." Sara said with a frown.

"Maybe he's just scared." Sirius said rationally.

"Scared of what? Of me?" Sara asked fiercely. "Why would anyone be scared of me?"

"Er—well," Sirius started to say hesitatingly, "you can be a little frightening at times."

"What!" Sara was almost yelling by now, "Have you lost your mind? I'm so bloody nice to everyone!"

"Yes, of course you are." Sirius said quickly looking a little frightened himself, and then muttered quietly to Nina in a sarcastic tone, "Nicest person I know."

"Hey guys, what's up?" came James's voice behind them unexpectedly. Remus and Peter were with him and they took a seat at the table. "Still working on your report?"

"Trying to." Nina said glaring at Sara and Sirius.

"Yeah we were just taking a little break." Sirius added. "We were talking about how gorgeous Chang is."

"Anthony?" Remus asked.

"Yep. Sara was just telling us how attractive she finds him." Sirius answered, giving Sara an evil grin.

"Really." Remus said dryly, looking over at Anthony, and then at Sara.

"Mmhmm." Sara nodded in agreement.

"Well then," Remus said in a low tone, his face slightly pink, "why don't you go and tell Anthony how you feel?"

"Maybe I will." Sara said seriously.

"Well go quickly," James said urgently while peering over at Lily's table, "I think Chang is getting sweet on Lily!" Everyone at the table looked over at Lily's table and saw her and Anthony laughing together.

James looked furious. "If he touches her, I'll kill him."

Sara whacked James on the arm. "Don't worry about Anthony, James. Lily likes Amos more." She gave Nina a wicked grin and Nina shook her head with a smile.

"Oi, Sirius, make sure you get your stuff done by tonight. We have that _other_ project to work on. There's only a week left." James said before leaving. The boys left Sirius and the girls to finish up their work and didn't meet up with them again until dinner later that evening.

Everyone was sitting at a table in the Great Hall except for Lily. She came in fifteen minutes later than the rest of the gang, smiling very broadly.

"What's she so happy about?" James said as he watched her enter the hall.

"I dunno, but she looks like she just got lai—OUCH!" Sirius was saying before Remus kicked him under the table as James's eyes widened in horror.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully to everyone, "Sara, I need to talk to you." She squeezed herself in between Nina and Sara and started talking. "I was just chatting with Anthony, and he was asking all these questions about you. He was wondering if you were dating anyone and I told him you weren't so he said that he wanted to talk to you." Sara looked genuinely surprised at what Lily had told her, considering the coincidence of the conversation they had earlier.

Lily was talking loud enough for the few people around her to hear, and Remus was one of them. Nina looked across and saw him looking straight down at his plate, with pink patches appearing on his face. _Oh shit_. Nina thought. _He looks pissed_. Nina looked at Sirius sitting next to him; she could tell he was thinking the same thing she was. James seemed somewhat relieved that nothing happened between Lily and Anthony, but at the same time was a little anxious for his friend.

Sara stole a quick glance at Remus without him noticing, and she said to Lily in a cheery voice, "Okay, so when does he want to talk me?"

"He said he could meet you outside a little after dinner if you agree to it." Lily answered.

"Sure, why not." Sara said and continued eating her dinner quietly. Remus didn't eat another morsel of food from his plate; he just jabbed his fork at it. It seemed like everyone, with the exception of Lily and Sara, could feel the tension radiating off of Remus. The boys left the table earlier than the girls, and headed to the common room.

As soon as they left Nina turned to Lily. "What are you doing?" she asked her fretfully. "You know Remus likes her. Why are you trying to hook her up with Anthony?"

"Well," Lily started to say, "Remus has to know that Sara can't wait around for him forever."

"Yeah." Sara added. "Besides, I don't like Anthony more than Remus. I just said I'd agree to talk to him in front of Remus. I don't know if I want to actually go." Lily looked at Sara understandingly.

"Oh," Nina said feeling a bit relieved. "Gosh, poor Remus. He looked like he was going to kill someone. He kept jabbing his food with his fork. He was probably picturing Anthony's head on his plate."

"Yeah so Lily, tell Anthony that I already like someone." Sara said with a wry smile. "We don't have to let Remus know I'm not going though."

When the girls entered the common room, the boys were sitting around by the fireplace, playing exploding snap. Remus still looked angry. Lily and Nina went and sat on the couches near them. Sara went up to the dorm to change her clothes. When she came down, she was wearing a very tiny black t-shirt, and some very fitted jeans. A couple of sixth year boys whistled some catcalls as she walked through the room and she laughed them off.

"So, I'm going out." She said to Nina and Lily. James and Sirius were staring at her with their mouths open. They turned to Remus and saw him looking down with one hand in his hair supporting his head, and the other cracking his knuckles furiously. Sara waved bye to the boys and walked out of the common room. Everyone was quiet and staring at Remus.

"Er, listen, mate," James finally broke the ice and began to tell Remus, "don't you think maybe you should go out and stop her?"

"I should?" Remus looked pale now.

"Yes, you daft idiot." Sirius answered. "I don't know what the hell you're waiting for."

"Oh, bugger." Remus said frustratingly while running his hands through his hair. He got up and walked quickly out the portrait hole, his heart pounding in his chest. He spotted Sara down the hall, walking slowly.

"Sara!" he called and ran up to her. She turned around and saw him coming.

"Yes, Remus?" she asked impatiently.

"You can't do this." he said firmly.

"I can't do what?" she asked.

"You know what I'm talking about." Remus said in a low voice.

"No I don't," she said sounding annoyed, "and if you're not going to tell me, move out of my way." Remus moved closer to her.

"You can't go out with him."

"What are you, my boyfriend or something?" Sara asked angrily. "You can't tell me whom I can or cannot go out with." She was starting to walk away from him when Remus grabbed her by the arms and pinned her up against the wall.

"Is that what you want?" he asked her fiercely. Sara looked stunned for a moment but then her expression turned neutral.

"Remus," she said sternly, "what the heck do you think you're doing?" Remus looked puzzled for a moment and then realized what he had done and let go of her quickly.

"Oh...sorry." he said quietly, looking embarrassed. He took a step back from her and Sara sighed in frustration.

"Now what?" he asked her looking bewildered.

"Why did you let go of me?" she asked him angrily.

"Because you told me to." he answered.

"No, I didn't." she retorted.

"You're driving me crazy." he said, looking like he was about to cry.

"Oh, shut up, Remus." Sara scolded, "You're driving _yourself_ crazy. I can't wait around forever for you to realize that you can trust me enough to tell me about your problem." Remus looked taken aback.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her.

"You know what I'm talking about." Sara responded.

"Do I?" he questioned skeptically.

"Yes, you do." Sara said tersely.

"Are you sure you know what you're talking about?" he asked again uncertainly.

"Does a full moon ring a bell?" she asked him.

"Ugh." he moaned putting his hands on his face. "Does everyone know"

"Well, if everyone is Nina and Lily, then yes." Sara said dryly.

He leaned himself back against the wall dejectedly and said,. "And the fact that I turn into a monster every month doesn't bother you?"

"You know, Lily and Nina think I turn into a monster every month as well…" Sara said while leaning herself against the wall next to him.

"Hmm…more like every week." He looked down to the side and smiled at her.

"Hey!" Sara said in a whiney tone while getting off the wall and facing him, "I'm not that bad. You know I'm actually very—" Sara's words were suddenly cut off by Remus's lips pressed against hers as he grabbed her around the waist. As soon as he let go he smiled and looked at her in the eyes and said, "nice."

* * *

A/N: Hehehe. This was a fun chapter to write. Since I was nice and posted this chapter early, send me some reviews! 


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 11

"Wake up, sleepy heads! It's a beautiful day!" Sara sang while pulling back the drapes of the girls' dormitory.

"Somebody please push her out the window," muttered Lily's irritated voice from underneath her blanket.

"Hmm?" Nina said sitting up from her sleep rubbing her eyes and blinking furiously, trying to see through the sun that was now blazing in their room. "Did you just get back?" she asked Sara.

"No, of course not. I came back last night." Sara said cheerily while fixing her hair in the mirror.

"Yeah right," Nina said disbelievingly, "I was tossing and turning until two in the morning and you weren't back yet."

"Well, I came up at two-thirty." Sara told her. "You were fast asleep."

"Sara," Lily began to say, still sounding irritated, "is this going to happen every day or something? You've been coming up this late for the past six nights! And how can you be so damn cheery when you hardly sleep?"

"I don't know!" she said smiling. "I just don't feel sleepy these days. I could probably stay up all night talking with Remus if I wanted to."

"_Talking,_ eh?" Lily said sarcastically.

"Yes, talking." Sara responded defensively. "That is what we do most of the time."

"Ooh," Nina added, "_most _of the time."

"Oh shut up." Sara said smiling. "Get your minds out of the gutter! Anyways, last night Remus was helping me with the History assignment."

"Oh damn!" Nina exclaimed remembering something, "I lent Sirius my History notes. I need them to finish up my assignment for this afternoon. I better go and catch him before he leaves for breakfast."

After quickly getting ready, Nina walked down the stairs from the girls' dormitory and made her way back up to the boys'. As she stood outside their closed door, she could hear a lot of loud voices and laughter coming from inside. _They seem happy to be awake so bloody early in the morning._ She knocked the door and the laughter suddenly stopped, and she could hear someone saying, "Quick! Put it away!"

After the sound of furniture being moved around stopped, the door opened, and James was standing in front of her.

"Nina!" he exclaimed extra cheerfully. "Good morning! How can I help you?"

"Er—hey," she said with a puzzled smile, "Is Sirius still up here by any chance?"

"Is it Nina?" came Remus's voice and he walked over next to James. "Hey! Is Sara awake?"

"Yeah. I think she already went downstairs." Nina answered.

"Oh good!" Remus said happily. "I'm going to go meet her down for breakfast then. See ya' Nina." he said giving her aaffectionate pat on the head as he left.

"Man, these lovesick monkeys are starting to irritate me." Nina said to James with a smile, "So is Sirius still up here or wha—" she stopped talking mid-sentence when she heard the distinct voice of somebody singing, "_If ya want my body and ya think I'm sexy come on sugar let me knoooow. If ya really need me, just reach out and touch me, come on honey tell me soooo!"  
_

"Is that Sirius?" Nina asked James, trying not to laugh.

"Yep, he's in the shower." James answered with a grin.

"Oh, okay. Interesting…so do you know if he's going to take a while?" Nina inquired.

"No, I don't he'll take long now. He's usually out in about ten minutes, so he should be done soon." James told her. "Oh… I hear the water being turned off so he probably is. You can come in and sit down while you wait for him if you want." Nina looked around the untidy room and didn't really see a place safe enough to sit in.

"Uh, no that's okay. I can wait here, thanks." Nina said standing inside by the door. She could still hear Sirius singing.

"Well, me and Peter are gonna head downstairs then." James said, grabbing his bag.

"Oh, okay." Nina said a little uneasily. _They're going to leave me alone here? Oh my God, what if he comes out naked or something?_ Nina's uneasiness was soon relieved when James knocked the door of the washroom and yelled, "Sirius! Nina's here! She needs to talk to you! Get out quickly!"

"What?" Sirius yelled from the other side of the door.

"I said Nina is in the room. She needs to talk to you." James repeated loudly.

"Who?" Sirius yelled again. James rolled his eyes and he and Peter went towards the door.

"Well, I'm out. I'll see you guys downstairs." he said to Nina while walking out the door, leaving her alone with Sirius still in the bathroom. _I hope he heard James_. Nina decided to at least turn away from facing the washroom door, just in case.

"Oi, Nina!" Sirius's voice came from the washroom. _Oh good he did hear him._ "I just wanted to warn you before I come out, that I'm completely naked!"

"What?" Nina screamed just as the door of the washroom opened and out came Sirius. He was wearing his black school pants with his shirt unbuttoned on top of it.

"Hey!" he said smiling, "Ha! I told you I was naked, and you looked right at the bathroom door!"

"What? No I didn't!" Nina exclaimed feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Then why are you looking at me now? How did you know I wasn't naked unless you looked?" he teased her.

"I don't know. You caught me off guard." Nina said, trying not to look at him, or his bare chest for that matter. _Can you please button your damn shirt!_

"Sure," he said jestingly, "so what's up?"

"Oh," she cleared her throat. "I just really need those History notes that you borrowed from me the other day."

"What notes?" he asked her.

"Those ones from the day that you skipped class."

"Oh hold on." he said thoughtfully. "Didn't _you _borrow notes from _me_?"

"No you're thinking of Potions." Nina replied sounding a little impatient. "These are History notes. I seriously need them."

"Okay now I remember." Sirius said. "Hmm…where did I put them?" he asked himself.

"Sirius!" Nina exclaimed frustratingly.

"Yeah, yeah." Sirius said waving her off. "Don't cry, I'll find them and bring them down to breakfast."

"Okay can you please make sure you do." she said sternly as she walked out the door.

"Yes. Now get lost." he said shooing her away and added smiling. "And next time, think of a better excuse for you to come here and try to catch me naked, okay?" Nina laughed and went on her way to the Great Hall.

* * *

"Remus and I are going to take a little walk before class." Sara said while she and Remus got up from the breakfast table.

"A _walk,_ eh? Is that what they're calling it these days?" James said sarcastically and everyone around the table laughed.

"No, no." Lily chided in, "I believe its called _talking_."

"My goodness, you all have dirty minds." Sara said exasperatingly.

"Oh, Nina's the dirtiest," Sirius's voice came behind them, as he walked to the table, "she just tried to see me naked." Nina rolled her eyes and held her hand out expectantly as Sirius dropped her notes onto it and sat down next to her.

"Thanks." she said to him and started working on the final part of her assignment, while the rest of the gang continued eating their breakfast. She was just writing her last sentence when a very majestic looking owl flew over their heads and dropped a black enveloped letter onto Sirius's lap.

"Uh oh." Sirius muttered looking at the envelope.

"What?" Nina asked him.

"Letter from home." he said quietly. He opened the envelope and read the letter, a frown forming on his face and deepening as he read on.

"Everything okay, mate?" James asked him across the table looking concerned.

"Huh?" he said looking up and then looked back down still frowning and said unimportantly, "Yeah everything's fine." He read the letter again and then folded it up. He muttered, "I'll be back," to nobody in particular and left the table, leaving everyone to wonder what the matter was.

* * *

Nobody saw Sirius in any class that day. He didn't show up for lunch or dinner either. Remus and James somehow knew that he was in the castle, but did not try to go and talk to him. When Lily asked him at dinner why he didn't go to him, James replied that if there was something going on in his family, it was best for Sirius to figure things out on his own. Nina and Lily both thought that was a stupid reason and thought maybe he would feel better if somebody talked to him.

"Believe me, when Sirius gets upset, it's best to just leave him alone." James said. Nina figured that James knew his friend better than they did and didn't argue with him after that.

"He is kinda moody though, isn't he?" Sara said.

"Yeah well, he has a lot of rubbish to deal with at home so he tends to have a lot on his mind." Remus reasoned.

After dinner, Nina went up to her dorm to change out of her robes and into something more comfortable. She grabbed her books and notes and headed down to the common room to study. There was a private corner near the window that Nina always liked to read at, since she found that most people overlooked it. She usually pulled a chair into the empty spot and sat there for hours either reading or gazing out the window. Holding her parchments and books she walked to that corner, and saw that somebody had already taken her spot. Sirius was sitting on the ground leaning against the wall with his knees up and one hand in his hair, supporting his head. She stopped and he looked up at her.

"Hey." he said quietly with a very small smile.

"Hey, sorry. I didn't know anyone was sitting here." Nina said cautiously, and then continued after a short spell of silence,"You uh, didn't come to class or dinner today. Is everything okay?" Sirius shrugged in reply.

"Do you need anything? Some food? Or something to drink?" she asked him with concern. Nina could tell from his exhausted face that he probably didn't eat anything the whole day. He shook his head.

"Okay." She paused and then continued talking, feeling a little sorry for him in this pitiful state. "You didn't really miss much today. You can borrow my notes later and copy them if you want."

Sirius nodded and said tiredly, "Yeah, I'll do that."

"Um, well, if you want, I can copy them for you." Sirius looked up at Nina and gave her a small smile.

"No, it's okay." he sighed. "I can do it later myself. Your handwriting is too messy anyways."

She smiled at him and said, "Okay then. I'm probably bugging you so I'll leave you alone. I'll be here in the common room studying if you need anything."

"No wait," he said suddenly, "come sit with me. I don't mind it when you bug me."

Nina sat down next to him, facing his side. She leaned forward, hugging her knees, and looked at him expectantly. "So…" she said.

"So…" he said back. He looked down on the ground for a moment and then looked back up at Nina and sighed. " So…I got a letter from my mother informing me that my uncle died last night."

"Oh no." Nina said sympathetically. Sirius continued to talk Nina as she listened earnestly about how his uncle was one of the few people in his pureblood mania family that he actually liked and went on to tellher about his family and their different ways of thinking.

"Actually, nobody really knows this, but I didn't even go home this summer. I went straight to the Potters'." he said and added bitterly, "I hope I never have to go back there again."

"Yeah, pressure from home is the worst. It's very stressful. You're lucky that you have people like the Potters to go to." Nina said understandingly and Sirius nodded thoughtfully in agreement. By now, the common room started to sound a little noisier, with the Gryffindor students lounging around and chatting with each other. Nina could make out the distinct voices of James, Remus and Peter as they walked into the room.

"Sounds like your friends are here." Nina said to Sirius. She turned around and saw them behind her. She waved to them and they walked towards her. Nina got up, thinking that the boys would probably want to talk amongst themselves.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later. I've got to do some studying." She said as she started to walk away from them. She headed towards the fireplace and spotted Lily and Sara already sitting there reading so she joined them. The girls were reading quietly for a while before they heard the boys going up the stairs.

While they were going up Nina heard James say to Sirius, "Are you sure you're still up to it? We don't have to do it." Then she heard Sirius reply to him, "Don't be mental. We've been planning it for months. We have to do it." Nina looked at Lily and Sara to see if they heard what she just did, but they were still engrossed in their books. _Wonder what those boys are up to,_ she thought to herself.

* * *

The next day, none of the boys showed up for any of their classes. They didn't even come to breakfast or lunch. The girls were angry. Sara was angry because Remus didn't inform her that he would be away all day. Lily was angry because she thought James was being a poor example of a Head Boy by skipping class and neglecting his duties. Nina was angry because she had to listen to Sara and Lily complain all day about them. It wasn't until about an hour before the Halloween feast was supposed to start that Nina saw one of the boys.

She was walking down the hall after her Potions lesson when she heard someone running behind her. She turned to see who it was and saw Sirius come right next to her.

"Nina!" he said gasping for breath. "Good thing I found you. Quickly, come with me!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her away with him.

* * *

A/N: Hehehe...don't you just love cliffhangers? Thanks for all the reviews from the last chapters! I hope you enjoyed this one. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll post the next chapter! 


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 12

"What the hell is going on?" Nina asked Sirius frantically.

"I'll tell you, just wait." he said running and dragging her down the empty corridor. They ran past a smaller door and Sirius suddenly stopped, looked behind him, and then ran back towards the door. He quickly opened the door and pulled Nina in with him and shut it. It was completely dark inside and it smelled of dust and wet towels; they were inside a broom closet.

"Sirius wha—," Nina was about to ask him when he put his hand over her mouth and whispered, "Shh. Be quiet for a second." His hand felt really warm on her face and Nina could smell the scent of his cologne on it. She could feel her heart beating in her chest. _What is he dragging me into?_ A few seconds later, Nina started to feel claustrophobic and Sirius's warm hand still on her face was restricting her breathing even more. She raised her hand and felt his arm and pulled his hand off of her mouth. Her eyes were getting used to the dark now and she could make out his silhouette facing her. She started to get impatient.

"Why did you drag me in here? What are we doing?" she whispered to Sirius.

"Hiding." he whispered back.

"Hiding? From who?" she asked him.

"Filch." he answered.

"We're hiding from Filch? Wait…why am_ I_ hiding from Filch? I didn't do anything!" she whispered hoarsely.

"You're my alibi." he explained to her. "See, if he finds me in the broom closet with you, he'll know that it wasn't me."

"What wasn't you?" she asked him.

"Don't worry about it." Nina could tell from the tone in his voice that he must have had a cheeky grin on his face.

"And what are we supposed to be doing in the broom closet together if he finds us?" she asked him.

"What do most people here do in the broom closets?" he asked her back. Nina gasped at the thought of what people would say if she was caught alone with Sirius in there.

"Okay that's it. I'm getting out of here." Nina said and was about to move when Sirius grabbed her arms.

"No, wait!" he said holding her back. "I can hear him coming." Nina stopped struggling and listened. Along with the sound of Sirius breathing, she heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to them. She also heard a cat meowing.

"What is it Mrs. Norris?" came the caretaker's raspy voice from the other side of the closet door. "Is someone in there?"

"Bloody cat." Sirius murmured. By now, Nina could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Sirius was still grabbing her by the arms. She could hear Filch's footsteps getting louder, and feel Sirius's grip getting tighter. Nina could sense Filch right on the other side of the door. Just as he was about to reach out to turn the knob of the door, a loud scream came from the other side of the hall, followed by more screams and the sound of people running. Filch's attention was diverted, and Nina could hear him running away from the closet and towards the screams.

"Oh damn! I think it really worked!" Sirius said excitedly as he finally let go of Nina's arms.

"What worked? Why is everyone running and screaming? What the hell did you do?" Nina asked him worriedly.

"I've got to go check it out!" he said ignoring her questions. The sound of people running past the closet door made Nina feel even more panicky. Sirius reached out to open the door when Nina stopped him.

"Wait!" she said grabbing his arm. "We can't just walk out of here! There are people right outside the door. What are they going to think if we just both suddenly come out of a broom closet?"

"Who cares?" Sirius said hurriedly. "Nobody is going to pay attention to us."

"How do you know? What if somebody does? They'll think we're either hiding from Filch or doing something else!" she exclaimed.

"Well we're obviously not going to admit we were hiding from Filch." Sirius said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, hell no. I'm not admitting to doing anything _else_ in this broom closet with you." Nina said sternly. "Do you realize what will happen to me? People here know my parents. If any type of information like this gets to them, they will not hesitate to pull me out of the school."

"Oh come off it. You're over-exaggerating." Sirius said disbelievingly.

"You don't know my parents." Nina said sounding very apprehensive. Sirius could tell by now that she really was worried.

"_Lumos_," Sirius muttered, lighting his wand. "Do you realize what I'm missing because of you?" he said disappointingly.

"Padfoot, are you there?" came James's voice from nowhere. Nina looked at Sirius confusedly. He fished around in his pocket and took out what looked like a mirror and opened it up.

"Yeah I'm here. What am I missing?" he said to the mirror.

"Where are you?" James said through the other side of the mirror.

"Stuck in a broom closet." Sirius answered.

"Again?" James asked with surprise.

Nina gave Sirius a reproachful look and he shifted uncomfortably, "Er—no it's not like that this time. So did it work?"

"Yes, it was bloody perfect! You should see everyone! They're going mad!" James sounded elated.

"Bugger, I can't believe I'm missing this!" Sirius complained. "You just couldn't have given _me_ the invisibility cloak, could you?"

"Well, it was three against one, mate."

"Yeah, whatever." Sirius said quickly. "It sounds like most people are out of the hall now though. I'm going to get out of here. I'll meet you in front of the Great Hall."

"Okay see you there." James said and Sirius put the mirror back into his pocket and put his ear near the crack of the door.

"The coast sounds clear." Sirius said to Nina. "Let's go."

Sirius pushed the closet door open and as he and Nina stepped out of it, they came face to face with a very livid looking Professor McGonagall.

_Oh shit,_ Nina and Sirius both thought at the same time.

"Mr. Black! Miss Aydin! What is the meaning of this? What were you two doing in the broom closet? Did you have something to do with what just happened?" Professor McGonagall scolded them as a few people were slowly walking by and listening.

"Why? What just happened, Professor?" Sirius asked, pretending to be concerned.

"Don't try to play dumb with me, Mr. Black." McGonagall said sternly. "I know you had something to do with it. Why else would you be hiding in the closet?"

"Ahem," Sirius cleared his throat, "well, I wasn't exactly _alone_."

"I see." McGonagall's attention diverted to Nina. "Miss Aydin, were you an accomplice to this prank?"

"No." Nina said nervously. She had never gotten in trouble with a professor before in her life. "I don't even know what happened."

"You didn't hear the people screaming outside in the corridor?" she said crossly.

Sirius butted into the conversation, trying to save Nina, who looked like she was going to throw up. "Well, we—er weren't really paying attention to what was happening outside, Professor. Were we, Nina?" he said while resting his arm on Nina's shoulder. The only thing going through Nina's mind at that point was, _I am going to die_.

"What?" Professor McGonagall's face turned slightly pink and she sputtered, "Why, I've never—Detention! Every night. For one week. My office. Both of you." She turned around and stormed off.

"Phew." Sirius breathed out, removing his arm from Nina's shoulder. "Well, that wasn't so bad, was it? Only a week!"

Nina couldn't believe what had just happened. She had never been so humiliated before in her life. She could sense that there were people around her staring and whispering, but she couldn't focus on anything. She just walked quickly down the hall, trying to get away from everybody. She reached an empty corridor and saw that Sirius had caught up to her.

"Hey wha--" he was about to ask her why she walked off when she cut him off.

"DETENTION?" she freaked out on him. "Holy shit! I've never gotten a detention before in my life!"

"They're not that bad once you get used to them." Sirius said trying to sound reasonable.

"I can't believe this! This is all your fault!" Nina yelled at him.

"My fault?" Sirius asked genuinely surprised.

"Obviously! Who else's fault can it be? Why did you drag me into this?" she yelled at him and then continued on without giving him a chance to respond, "You used me to try to save your _own _ass, and now we're_ both_ in trouble! I am so embarrassed! McGonagall thinks I'm a prank pulling ho! Oh God, what if my parents find out about this? I'll be screwed. I think I'm gonna be sick." Nina said bending forward a little, clutching her stomach, which at this point felt like there were a million butterflies fluttering around attacking each other inside.

Sirius came to her and touched her arm, "Why, are you okay?"

"Don't touch me." she said abruptly flicking his arm away.

For a moment Sirius was surprised at her rebuff, but then recovered. "Okay, you're seriously over-reacting."

"No, I'm not." Nina said firmly, leaning against the wall behind her, still holding her stomach.

"It's just a detention! It's not a big deal. We get detentions all the time! It won't be so bad, really." he tried to convince her. "Come on; let's go to the feast." Sirius said while taking her arm.

"I told you not to touch me." Nina said pulling her arm away from him.

"Well," Sirius said, really feeling offended this time, "you didn't seem to mind so much in the broom closet, did you?"

"What?" Nina exclaimed with anger.

"Don't "what" me! You were holding on to me the whole time we were in there." Sirius said, knowing he was really pushing her buttons now.

"Have you lost your mind? You were the one who grabbed _me_!" Nina defended herself, feeling angrier by the second.

"So why didn't you tell me to let go then?" he asked her fervently.

"Sirius," Nina said clenching her fists trying to surpress the anger bubbling inside, "can you just shut--"

"Oi! There you are!" James called coming down the hall. "What happened? We just heard someone talking saying you and Nina got detention from McGonagall! They all think you guys pulled the prank and then made out in the broom closet afterwards." Sirius stared at James in surprise for a second and then they both burst out laughing hysterically. Nina just stared at them with her mouth open, too shocked for any type of reaction. When the news finally sunk in, she felt her shock turn into murderous rage. The boys must have noticed her facial expression change because they both stopped laughing instantaneously.

"Oh shit!" Sirius exclaimed as Nina lunged at him.

"Let me at him!" Nina yelled as James struggled to hold her back.

"What is going on here? Nina!" The sound of Lily's voice snapped her out of her rage and she composed herself. "We've been looking for you everywhere! What happened?" Lily, Sara and Remus walked towards them.

"Yeah, we just heard people talking." Sara added with a hint of excitement. "They were saying that you and Sirius were the ones who pulled the prank!"

"Did McGonagall really catch you guys in the broom closet?" Remus asked Sirius.

"Wow, word here travels fast." Sirius muttered to him and then said to everyone, "Well, McGonagall doesn't really know if we had anything to do with the prank."

Sara pulled Nina close to her and whispered, "We heard some girls saying that you guys were doing something in the closet." Nina stared at Sara, looking too angry to speak. Sara noticed how livid her friend was."Er, but of course, its not true...is it?"

"So who really was responsible for it?" Lily asked seriously.

"Maybe you should ask Sirius and James." Nina said austerely.

"Potter? Was it you lot? What kind of a Head Boy are you? I should report you to the headmaster!" Lily started raving.

"Don't be daft, Lily." Sara said interrupting Lily's rant. "Nobody got hurt. There's no need for anyone to get into trouble. It was just a harmless prank."

"Right." Nina said dryly. "Completely harmless."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked Nina.

"Oh," Sirius said casually, "Nina's just ticked because we have detention."

"Detention?" Remus asked confusedly. "For what?"

"For making out in the broom closet while everyone else was running for their lives." Sirius said with a smirk.

Nina charged at Sirius again and this time, everyone had to hold her back.

* * *

A/N: Hehe...hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for all the positive reviews, guys! Totally made my day! Tell me what you think about this one and I'll post the next chapter again very soon! 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 13

Nina refused to go to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, opting to go straight to bed instead. She wasn't hungry. She was too angry at Sirius to think about anything else. She lay in her bed for hours, thinking of different ways she could hurt him. She was in the middle of a happy thought involving Sirius and a bat bogey hex when Lily and Sara came into the dorm. She quickly put her head under her covers, closed her eyes and pretended to sleep; she didn't feel like talking to anyone.

"I know you're awake, Nina," Sara said to her, "but you can continue to pretend you're asleep. I just wanted to let you know that McGonagall told Sirius that your detention starts tomorrow evening at eight."

"Thanks for reminding me." Nina said sarcastically from under the blanket.

"Aw, Nina don't worry. It's not that bad. I'm sure Professor McGonagall won't be too hard on you. You never get in trouble. You're one of her best students." Lily tried to console her.

"I don't care." Nina said thrusting the blanket off her face and looking at her roommates. "I'm not just upset about the detention."

"Then what is it?" Sara asked her.

"I'm pissed off at Sirius. I want to kill him." Nina said angrily.

"Well, he did seem a little guilty at the feast about you getting a detention." Lily said.

"I don't care about the bloody detention. That's only a part of it." she said irritably.

"Then what is it?" Sara asked her impatiently.

"Oh forget it." Nina responded angrily and put the covers back on her head. "I'm too tired to talk about it. Good night."

The next morning, Nina did everything she could to avoid being in the same company as Sirius. She waited until she knew he was already in the Great Hall before she went down for breakfast, and when she did get there, she sat at another table. She did the same thing for the classes they had together by waiting until he already took a seat, and took her own as far away as possible.

When she wasn't avoiding Sirius, she was avoiding people's curious gazes at her. Word of the prank and closet incident spread around the school like wildfire, particularly among the girls who fancied Sirius. Nina noticed a lot of them giving her dirty looks throughout the day. She tried to ignore everyone and go on about her day as normally as she could.

* * *

"Nice of you to finally join us, Mr. Black." Professor McGonagall said as Sirius walked into her office for detention that evening. Nina had arrived ten minutes earlier. She didn't want the professor to give her any other reason to be cross with her.

"Sorry, Professor." Sirius said with a smile. "Late Quidditch practice."

She looked at him sternly and went right down to business. "Well, since you two love spending time together in broom closets, I thought it would be appropriate of me to assign you to clean out this one." she said while getting up towards a door in the back of her office. She opened the door and signaled them to follow her.

"Whoa, this isn't a broom closet, it's another room!" Sirius exclaimed as they walked into it.

"Yes, it's a storage room actually. I haven't any time to organize it, so you two will be doing that this week during your detentions. I want everything organized and put on shelves that you will be assembling. You can put your wand away, Mr. Black; you won't be needing it. I want this done without magic. I'll be popping by every now and then to check up on you, so don't try anything cheeky." she said and walked out of the room briskly.

"Shoot," Sirius said surveying the mounds of books and boxes, "this is going to be fun."

Nina ignored him and started moving the boxes around, trying to figure out how to organize everything. She noticed that there were tons of books, so she decided to move them all onto one side. She started piling as many as she could carry at once.

"Well," Sirius began to say cheerfully, "shall we just take the books and put them on one side first?" Nina ignored him again and kept moving the books to the side.

"Okay, let's do that then." Sirius said still sounding cheery. He started piling up some of the books. "So…looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time together this week, eh?" Nina didn't say anything to him. She just kept right on moving the books. They worked quietly for about an hour and just when Nina thought that he had given up on trying to talk to her, Sirius dropped a box with a crash. Nina looked at him gravely.

"Whoops. I don't think there were books in this box." He said shaking the box and hearing tinkling sounds. "_Reparo_." he muttered with his wand and put the box on the other side. Nina went back to ignoring Sirius and putting books away. She was bending down to pick up a box when something hit her back. She turned around and Sirius was looking at her with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, sorry." he said still grinning. "I was aiming for that big bin." Nina looked around the room and saw the bin on the opposite side of the room. She stared at him coldly for a second and then went back to the books.

"Excuse me." Sirius said while cutting in front of her and taking the box she was in the middle of emptying. _Okay, he's just trying to get your attention._ Nina thought to herself. _Just keep ignoring him_. She turned around and he was right in front of her, startling her.

"You like coming in my way, don't you?" he asked her. She moved over to the side.

"So am I going to be talking to myself every night for the next seven days or what?" Sirius asked her, sounding a little bit frustrated. When Nina still didn't say anything to him he sighed heavily and said in a defeated tone, "Okay look, I'm sorry, alright? I didn't mean for you to get in trouble. You can be mad at me; I don't care. Just stop the silent treatment. It's driving me crazy."

Nina stopped piling up the books and looked at him. "I'm not angry about the detention."

"Then what are you angry about?" he asked her confusedly.

"If you don't know, then that makes it even worse." Nina replied sounding annoyed.

"Well how am I supposed to know if you don't tell me?" he asked frustratingly.

"I shouldn't have to tell you." Nina said angrily. "If you were a decent person, you'd already know."

"A decent person?" Sirius exclaimed offended, just as Professor McGonagall entered the room.

"Alright, that's enough for today." she said while surveying the room. "You can go. I'll see you here again tomorrow night, and preferably on time, Mr. Black. Goodnight."

Nina and Sirius walked silently together back to the Gryffindor common room. On the way there, Sirius was trying to think of what he did the night before that Nina was so upset about. Once they were right outside the portrait hole, Nina stopped.

"You can go in first." she told him.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I don't want to walk in with you. People are already talking about us; I don't want them to get any more ideas." she said sternly.

"But everyone knows we had detention together." he said sounding confused.

"I don't care. I just don't feel like going in with you." Nina said touchily.

"Why do you care so much if people are talking about you anyways?" Sirius asked her.

"See, this is exactly why I'm pissed off at you." Nina said angrily.

"Why?" Sirius looked thoroughly perplexed.

"Just move out of my way." Nina said irritably walking past him towards the entrance.

"Oh great, are we going to start the silent treatment again?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"Yes." She said evenly and walked into the portrait hole.

* * *

For the next two days, Nina didn't talk to Sirius. He tried talking to her many times, but she refused to speak with him. In their detention periods, he persisted in "accidentally" hitting her with things or bumping into her. On the third night of their detention, they had to assemble shelves that were to be put up on the walls. Because they had to work together, Nina didn't have a choice but to talk to him, so she kept all conversation strictly about the shelves.

"I need a screw." Nina told him while holding two wood pieces together.

"Excuse me?" he said looking a little taken aback.

Nina rolled her eyes. "One of those spirally nail-type thingies."

"What?" he asked.

"Never mind." Nina said tiredly and reached over across him to grab one. As she did, her hair came very close to Sirius's face. He could smell the scent of her shampoo; it was sweet and fruity. Her hair looked very soft and Sirius had the sudden urge to touch it, but she had found the screw and moved back before he could do anything.

"Oh, I need a nut, too." Nina remembered.

"Sorry, I don't have any." Sirius said without any hesitation.

"No, its one of those round—ugh, I'll get it myself." Nina said and reached over again. Her hair was close to his face again, and the urge to touch it came back quickly. He moved his hand up, but as soon as he did Nina turned and looked at him suspiciously. Sirius quickly ran his hand through his own hair and pretended to stretch a little. Nina went back to the nuts, grabbed one and moved back again. She put the pieces together and started tightening the screw.

"I can't tighten this all the way," she told Sirius.

"Let me do it then." he said. Nina moved out of the way as he tightened it. As soon as the shelf was assembled he said, "Okay so let's pick it up and put it against the wall." Nina grabbed one side of the shelf and Sirius went on the other side. It was heavy and Nina had to grip it tightly. As they lifted it up towards the wall, a wood splinter went into the palm of Nina's hand.

"Crap!" Nina yelled, just as the shelf tilted into place.

"What happened?" Sirius said coming towards her.

"I got a splinter." Nina said looking at her hand.

"Here, let me see it." Sirius said trying to take her hand.

"No, I'll take it out myself." Nina said moving away from him.

"Don't be stupid, Nina." Sirius said sternly. "Give me your hand." Nina frowned and obligingly gave him her hand. He held it and looked at it, trying to see the splinter. When he didn't see it, he moved his fingers over her hand, trying to feel where it went.

"Okay," Nina said impatiently, "are you going to stand here caressing my hand all night?"

"I'm trying to feel for the splinter." Sirius replied.

"Can't you see it?" Nina asked. "It's huge." Sirius looked more closely at her hand.

"Oh, yeah now I can see it." he said. "Okay hold still." He tried to pinch the splinter out.

"Ow!" Nina cried and moved her hand.

"Stop fidgeting!" Sirius scolded her and grabbed her hand again. "I told you to hold still." He kept pinching her trying to take the splinter out. Nina felt like screaming every time. Finally after a few tries, he succeeded.

"There you go." Sirius said while taking one last look at her hand. "It's out."

Nina looked at her hand. "Thanks." she mumbled grudgingly.

"So," he started to say with a smile, "you still mad at me now?"

"Yes." Nina said with a frown. "This doesn't make up for what you did."

"Oh, come on." Sirius said exasperatedly. "What am I supposed to do then?"

"Nothing." she replied severely. "I just don't like you that much, that's all."

"Oh, please." Sirius said with a smile. "I know you love me, admit it."

"Mmhmm." she said sarcastically but still cracked a smile.

"See!" he exclaimed. "I knew it."

"No," Nina said seriously again. "I really don't like you."

"Are you going to tell me why or am I going to have to guess for the rest of my life?" he asked her.

Nina breathed deeply and said, "Fine. It's because you're a jerk."

"A jerk?" Sirius asked dryly. "Oh thanks. That explains everything."

"No, seriously." Nina started to explain feeling warm with anger again. "I told you very specifically in that bloody broom closet that I didn't want anyone to see us coming out together. And then what do you do? You go and tell Professor McGonagall, and in front of all these other students, exactly what I did not want anybody to think! We might as well have just stepped out quietly before. But noooo, you completely disregarded what I told you before, knowing what it meant to me,just so that you wouldn't get in trouble. That's a pretty jerky thing to do."

"Oh." Sirius said quietly looking a little guilty.

"Yes." she told him. "That's why I'm pissed. I would never sell out someone to save my own skin. It's just wrong."

"Well, I wasn't really thinking at the time." Sirius tried to defend himself. "I just said whatever popped into my head! I didn't even realize it, I swear. I wouldn't do it intentionally. I stayed behind in the closet because of you, remember?"

"Yeah, but still," Nina continued stubbornly, "you should've just taken the blame instead of pinning me with you."

"You think I should've told McGonagall that I was responsible for the prank and hiding from Filch in the broom closet?" he asked her.

"Well," Nina replied thoughtfully, "instead of saying what you did…yeah that would've been better."

"Fine." he said resolutely. "I'll go tell her right now. I'll tell her what really happened. If it will make you happy and not be mad at me anymore, I'll do it." Without any hesitation, Sirius marched right out of the storage room and into the professor's office.

"Professor," Sirius began, "there's something I need to tell you." As soon as Nina heard him actually talking to her, she ran out behind him.

"Yes, what is it, Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall asked looking up from her work.

"I—" he began to say before he was cut off.

"We need more screws for the shelves." Nina said quickly to the professor. "We ran out."

"We did?" Sirius asked Nina confusedly.

"Yes." she said assertively. "Actually, I think I saw a box of them somewhere. We'll just go check and see if there are any more." Nina said as she dragged Sirius by the arm, back to the storage room. As soon as they were in the room, she let go of him.

"What did you do that for?" Sirius asked her.

"Are you crazy?" Nina said agitatedly. "Do you want to get suspended or something?"

"What?" he cried out. "You just told me you wanted me to tell her!"

"Don't be stupid." Nina said exasperatedly. "I didn't _really_ want you to."

"Then why did you tell me you did?" Sirius asked her.

"I dunno," Nina replied, "I was just mad."

"I see," he said looking at her and then asked with a little hesitation, "Well, are you still mad?"

Nina thought that he actually looked worried that she still might be. She even felt kind of bad that she was mad for so long. She sighed and said, "No, I'm not mad anymore, Sirius."

"Really?" he asked, relief spreading over his face, "So we're cool?"

Nina shrugged, "Yeah, I guess." She looked up at him and smiled, "But, if you ever pull that kinda shit on me again, I'm seriously never going to talk to you."

"Fine." he said and grinned cheekily, "Just promise not to ever make out with me in a broom closet again."

* * *

A/N: Tell me how this chapter was! I'm only updating so quickly since you all are being so nice with your reviews. Hehehehe. Thanks! 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 14

Because of the time they spent at their detentions, Nina and Sirius had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. They had another major part of their Muggle Studies group project to hand in soon, so they spent almost every evening working on it in the library. Sara finished her part of the project already, and spent her free time either working on other subjects, or spending time with Remus. It was an evening a few days after the last detention that the four of them were in the library. Nina and Sirius were working on their parts for the projectwhile Sara and Remus were reading.

Remus yawned and stretched, "I think I've had enough of the library for one night, guys. I'm gonna head to the common room."

Sara quickly shut her book and said, "I'll come with you!" As soon as they got up, Lily came stomping into the library. Her face was red with rage.

"Have any of you guys seen Potter?" she asked angrily.

"Why? What happened?" Sara asked coming to her.

"This!" she yelled slamming a bunch of posters onto the table. They all gathered around the table to see what they said.

Nina read the words on a poster out loud. "_Disco Fever: The wildest party Hogwarts has ever seen! Open to students in fourth year and up. Muggle dress required_. I don't get it."

"It was supposed to be a bloody ball! Now it's turned into a club night!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh wicked! He actually listened to my suggestion!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

"This was your idea, Black?" Lily said angrily.

"Oh, uh—no! I was just giving him suggestions for other events. Not the ball." Sirius lied quickly.

Lily was about to say something when she saw James coming towards them.

"Potter!" she yelled. "What did you do to my ball?"

"_Your_ ball?" he asked confusedly.

"Yes! _My _ball! I had everything planned out perfectly. What are all these _Disco Fever _posters doing everywhere?" she continued yelling at him.

"Wait a minute." James said calmly. "I thought we went through all this already. You told me to make the posters for the dance. I asked you what I should put on there. You said to make up some catchy name for the event."

"_Disco Fever_?" Lily screeched.

"You said we were having disco music as well!" James exclaimed.

"Some! Not all! And what about the formal dress?" Lily inquired.

"Hey! You never said _formal_." James retorted. "You said _muggle_. Anyways, Dumbledore approved it. So what's the problem? I think it will be a good change. It's the 1970's, not the 1860's. Nobody wants to waltz around the room in stuffy suits. Get with the times, Lily."

"It's not a bad idea, Lily." Sara said, actually taking James's side over her friend's.

"Yeah." Nina agreed. "I think everyone will like it. It's different."

"Of course!" James said. "Think about it, Lily. You'll be known as the hippest Head Girl Hogwarts has ever seen!"

"I dunno." Lily said sounding unsure about the prospect.

"Aw, come on, look…" James put his arm around Lily and took her away from everyone else, evidently trying to convince her about the dance. James must have said something that pleased Lily, because by that night, all the posters were back up around the school. When the girls were in their dorm that night, they were talking about the dance.

"So who do you want to go to the dance with, Lily?" Sara asked her.

"Well, I'm almost certain Potter is going to ask me." Lily said discontentedly.

"And you're going to say…?" Nina asked waiting for an answer.

"I dunno." Lily said frowning.

"Ooh! You mean you're actually considering going with him?" Sara asked excitedly.

"Maybe. I really don't know. I'm so confused. He drives me crazy and I can't stand him half the time. But then again, he kinda grows on me every day." Lily replied while getting into her bed.

"So don't be stupid! If he asks you, say yes!" Sara exclaimed.

Lily sighed as she moved the covers up to her face. "Fine. If he asks me, I'll say yes. And that's only if nobody better asks me first."

* * *

It was only a day after the posters were up, and the students at Hogwarts were already catching disco fever. It seemed that most people were excited about the dance and were already getting dates for the night. Down in the Great Hall, the boys were discussing the dance.

"So, since this isn't some formal ball thing, am I supposed to ask Sara to it? Or is it just implied that we're going together?" Remus asked Sirius and James.

"Well, she is your girlfriend, so it would be pretty stupid if you guys asked anyone else. I'm assuming it's implied already." Sirius replied.

"Oh okay. Cool." Remus said with a smile.

"Yeah, lucky bastard. Who cares about you, anyways? Let's focus on _me_. How the hell am I supposed to convince Lily to go with me?" James asked frantically.

"I don't know, mate. That's a tough one." Sirius said.

"But you better think of something fast. I think Diggory or Chang might seriously ask her before you do, especially since they've been working on that project together this term. They've been getting quite chummy." Remus said convincingly.

"Damn! I knew Chang had a thing for Lily! I'll kill the bastard!" James said with wrath.

Just then two sixth year girls walked by giggling and eyeing the boys. James sat up straight and ran his hand through his hair and winked at them. The girls started to giggle even more and walked away chattering excitedly.

"Now I know why Lily won't go with you." Remus said disapprovingly.

"Well, I can't help it if chicks dig me." James said cockily.

"Hey, Sirius." came another girl's voice from behind, and walked towards him.

"Hey…you." Sirius smiled uneasily, trying to remember what her name was.

"Listen," she said moving closer to him, "I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go to that dance together. You know, last year when we went out, we kinda had fun. So, if you want to..."

"Oh, I wish you would've asked me earlier. I'm already going with someone." Sirius said trying to act remorseful.

"Oh..." she said a little disappointingly, "well, that's okay. Maybe we can still hook up at the dance."

"Yeah, we'll see." Sirius said smiling as she started to walk away.

"Who are you going with?" James asked Sirius in an indignant tone when she was out of sight. "You didn't tell me!"

"Oh, nobody. I just said that." Sirius said passively.

"Why'd you do that?" Remus asked Sirius skeptically. "Is there someone you want to ask?"

"Um," he replied thinking, "I dunno. Not that I can think of right now."

"That's odd. You never turn a girl down." Remus said.

"Yeah," James agreed with him, "especially a hot one."

"Well, she's not _that_ hot." Sirius defended himself.

"Who do you think _is_ hot then?" Remus asked him with a sly grin.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Nina's cheerful voice interrupted their conversation as she walked over to their table. The boys looked up and waved at her.

"Did you finish the report?" Nina asked Sirius.

"Almost, I just have to do the conclusion. I had to finish my Herbology assignment so I didn't have time." Sirius replied.

"Oh that's fine, give it to me then. I'll do the conclusion." She seemed to be in a very good mood if she was willing to do extra work.

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked handing her the report.

"Of course!" she smiled. "I don't have anything to do. I want to read it over anyways."

"Okay thanks. I'll see you in class." Sirius said to her.

"Yeah make sure you save me a seat. Later guys!" She waved goodbye to them as Sirius watched her leave the Great Hall.

Remus eyed Sirius inquisitively for a moment and then asked him very casually. "So Sirius…why don't you take Nina to the dance?"

"What?" Sirius asked taken aback.

"No, he can't take her!" James exclaimed suddenly. Sirius looked at James with even more surprise.

"Why not?" Remus asked him.

"Because,_ I_ was going to ask her." James answered defiantly.

"I thought you wanted to ask Lily." Remus said confusedly.

"Yeah, but if Lily says no, which she probably will, I need to ask someone else." James explained.

"So why pick Nina?" Sirius butted in.

"Why wouldn't I? She's nice, smart, and pretty. Plus, I really like her. She's cool." James said with conviction.

"Well, that doesn't seem right." Sirius said trying not to sound as upset as he felt. "You can't use her as a backup."

"Well, she's not _really_ a backup." James retorted. "I'm fairly sure Lily won't go with me. So maybe I'll just ask Nina first anyways."

"Well, if you're going to, you better ask her soon." Remus said looking across the room, and having a sudden deja vu. "I can see Darcy over there talking to her."

"What? Where?" James exclaimed looking in Nina's direction. "Tucker! Why that mother—" Sirius and Remus watched James get up quickly and run towards them.

"Hey! Nina!" James called her. As soon as Sirius realized what James was doing, he jumped out of his seat.

"Oi! Prongs! Wait a second!" Sirius said and ran after him. Nina and Darcy both looked at the two boys running towards them.

James caught up to them first and pulled Nina away from Darcy saying, "Excuse us for a second…Nina, I need to ask you something." Nina was about to ask him what was up when Sirius caught them.

"No, Nina! Don't listen to him," he said a little out of breath.

"What the heck is wrong with you two?" Nina said looking at them both very perplexedly.

"Nothing!" James said hurriedly, "It's just that--"

"Nina!" Sara suddenly came from behind interrupting them and started dragging Nina away, "Quickly! We need to go or I'm going to be late."

"Hold on a second!" James said desperately.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm in a rush, we'll talk later in class! Bye!" Nina said rapidly as Sara pulled her away out the door. Sirius and James watched her leave and then turned around and saw Darcy still standing there, looking offended.

"Oh, sorry about that, mate." James said to him as they started walking back to the table where Remus was still sitting.

"What did you do that for, Sirius?" James asked him grumpily.

"Do what?" Sirius asked, equally grumpy.

"Just try to stop me from asking Nina?" James asked again.

"Oh…" Sirius tried to think fast and then said in a lighter tone, "Well, I just think you're jumping the gun on asking Nina so quickly before you even try to ask Lily. Maybe she wants to go with you…you never know."

"I dunno..." James said hesitantly. "You really think so?"

"Yes! I really do." Sirius replied persuasively.

"Fine, maybe you're right. I guess I should at least try. I'll just ask her then." James said as they approached the table.

"Good!" Sirius said and sighed with relief as they sat down. _And just what are you so relieved about?_ A voice in his head was scolding him_. It's not like you were planning on asking Nina to the dance, were you?_ "I don't know." Sirius muttered to himself confusedly.

"You don't know what?" Remus asked him.

"What?" Sirius asked looking up. "Oh….uh…I don't know if I'm going to finish this assignment. We should head to class." He started gathering his things and they all got up and went to their class.

The Muggle Studies class was about to start when Lily and Sara entered the classroom. The boys were already seated towards the back of the room, and they had saved three seats around them for the girls. Sara came towards the boys and took a seat next to Remus, and Lily sat down on one side of Sirius.

"Where's Nina?" Sirius asked Lily as she took her books out.

"Oh she's coming. She was just talking to Kingsley outside."

"Shacklebolt? What's she talking to him about?" Sirius asked curiously.

"I don't know. I wasn't eavesdropping." Lily said and then added with a smile, "But, I think maybe he might've been trying to ask her to the dance." Sirius suddenly felt his stomach turn. _What is wrong with me? I feel like hitting something. Hard. Like Kingsley's head_.

Nina walked into the classroom looking very cheerful. Sirius's mind was still buzzing. _What the hell is she so happy about? Did he ask her to the dance? Did she say yes?_

"Hey!" Nina said to Sirius while taking the other seat next to him. "Thanks for saving me a seat."

"Well, you took long enough to get here." Sirius said crankily and then added huffily, "I was gonna give it away soon. There were so many girls that wanted to come and sit next to me." _Why did I just say that? _

"Really." Nina said dryly. "You should've let them sit here then. There's another seat over there next to James. I could've sat there."

Sirius shrugged with a frown. _What's his problem now?_ Nina thought to herself as she took out her books. Nina dropped their finished group report onto this table.

"Before you get carried away with your moody attitude problem, let me remind you that I just did some of your work for you." Sirius frowned deeper and grumbled something unintelligible. For the entire duration of the class, he just sat quietly with a puckered brow looking sulky. Nina kept wondering if she said something that might've angered him, but she couldn't think of anything.

"Listen, don't forget you promised to help me with Potions tonight." Nina told him as the class was dismissed.

"Oh…I forgot, I might be busy." he said in an obviously untruthful manner.

"Sirius!" Nina exclaimed. "My assignment is due tomorrow! You're gonna force me to ask Snape for help, you know."

"Ugh." he said sighing. "Fine. I'll help you."

"Good. And make sure you're not moody by then. You're starting to annoy me." Nina said sternly and left.

Later in the evening after dinner, Sirius was helping Nina with her Potions assignment in the Great Hall. Sirius was in the middle of explaining something to her when Dana Abbott, a seventh year Hufflepuff, came up to Sirius. She sat down really close to him and started talking in a low voice. Nina could hear her asking him to the dance and her heart began to pound, but she pretended to be concentrating really hard on her Potions. _What are you feeling so upset about? You didn't want to him to ask you to the dance, did you? Okay he might be extremely good-looking, but you don't **really** like him like that. He's just a friend—and that's what he thinks of you as, too. It shouldn't matter to you who he goes to the dance with, especially considering that you're already--_

"Sorry, I'm going with somebody already." She heard Sirius say disrupting her thoughts. _Crap._ Nina felt even worse._ He really is going with somebody already. Oh well. I don't care...do I?_

"So," Nina said as Dana walked away glumly, "you've already got somebody to go to the dance with? That was fast."

"Well, not as fast as you were, I'm sure." Sirius said defensively.

"What do you mean?" Nina asked confusedly. "I'm not going with anyone."

"You're not?" Sirius asked with surprise.

"No. Nobody's asked me yet." Nina replied. "Although I kinda get the feeling Darcy was going to ask me this morning before you and James came shooing him away. What was that all about anyways?"

"Oh—er, nothing." Sirius tried to think of an excuse. "James just needed um…some advice on asking Lily to the dance."

"Is he going to ask her?" Nina asked him.

"I don't know. I think he wants to but he's afraid of getting rejected." Sirius told her.

"Ah, tell him he won't." she said. "Lily said she would go with him if he asked her."

"She did?" he asked curiously.

"Yep." Nina nodded. "But don't tell James I said that. Lily will kill me."

"Okay." Sirius agreed smiling. His grumpy mood suddenly disappeared with the knowledge that Nina wasn't going to the dance with anyone, and also with the fact that he didn't have to worry about James asking Nina either. _So now what are you gonna do? _The voice in his head started to talk again. _If someone else asks her to the dance, you're going to get jealous. Yes, jealous. Don't act like you aren't. You've got to admit it to yourself. Whatever the reason may be, you don't want to see her go out with anybody else. You can keep convincing yourself that you're just being protective over her; I'm not going to argue with you… _

"So…who are you go—" Nina was about to ask Sirius who he was taking to the dance when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw it was a fellow classmate, Mark Johnson.

"Hey." he said smiling shyly.

"Oh, hi." Nina said smiling back.

"Can I uh, speak to you for a moment, if you don't mind?" he asked her a little nervously.

"Sure. What's up?" Nina asked.

"Oh, well, actually…do you think maybe we can talk in private?" he asked, stealing a glance at Sirius. Sirius knew exactly what Johnson wanted to talk about, and he didn't like it.

"Actually," Sirius decided to butt in, "we are a little busy at the moment, if you didn't notice."

"It won't take long." Mark retorted.

"We don't have time." Sirius said dryly.

"We don't?" Nina asked, a little confused about what was going on.

"No, we don't." Sirius said more sternly this time.

"Oh." Mark sounded a little dejected.

"Listen Johnson, I know what you want to talk to her about, and you really shouldn't waste your time." Sirius said very imposingly.

"What do you mean?" Mark started to sound a little angry now.

"She's already going with someone." Sirius replied matter-of-factly.

"Who is?" Nina asked, still puzzled.

"Oh…Okay." Mark said quietly and started to walk away. "I'll see you around then. Bye."

"What the heck was that all about?" Nina asked Sirius when Mark was gone.

"What do you mean? I just saved you some valuable time, that's what." Sirius replied.

"Was he going to ask me to the dance?" Nina asked in realization.

"Yeah…Obviously." Sirius responded.

"So why didn't you let him ask?" Nina questioned in angrily.

"Why? Did you want to go with him?" Sirius asked her, getting a little angry himself.

"Er—I don't know!" Nina said frustratingly.

"So then…what're you complaining about, stupid?" Nina could tell Sirius was getting upset and didn't want him to get moody again—she needed to finish her assignment.

"Nothing, I guess." She said sounding resigned. _Man, this guy drives me crazy sometimes_.

"Good. Now stop wasting my time and let's finish up this work." he said while scribbling something down.

They were finished the assignment and walking out of the Great Hall when another seventh year Ravenclaw came up to Nina. Sirius couldn't take it anymore.

"Listen, mate, you really don't wanna take her to the dance. There are so many other girls in this school that will give you what you want. So back off." he told him.

As soon as they were alone again, Nina started yelling at Sirius. "What is wrong with you? Why are you scaring everyone away from me? I'm going to end up going to the dance by myself."

"You don't know these guys, Nina." he said in a very serious tone. "They're just after your stuff."

"My _stuff_?" Nina asked in aggravation.

"Yeah…you know." Sirius made it sound like everyone knew what that was except for her. Then when she still looked confused he became annoyed. "Man, I can't trust you with anyone. You're too stupid and naïve. I think I'll just have to take you to the dance myself."

"But you're already going with someone." she said feeling puzzled, and still angry at his bullying.

"Oh don't worry about that." he said unimportantly.

"No, but that's not right, Sirius." Nina said shaking her head. "You can't tell someone you'll go with them and then--"

"Nina," he interrupted her, grabbed her cheeks in his hand and said forcefully, "Don't argue with me. I told you not to worry about it. Okay?"

Nina was completely caught off guard and just mumbled, "Okay."

"Good." Sirius said looking at her with a satisfied smile.

"You're hurting my face." Nina said, still in his grasp.

"Oh, sorry." he said quietly as he loosed his grip and brushed his hand off of her face slowly. He was still looking at her, although a little strangely, and Nina began to feel very queasy in her stomach. _Oh damn. This is not good_.

"You know, you don't have to protect me so much." Nina said breaking his gaze off of her quickly and rubbing her cheeks. "I'm not as stupid as you think."

"Yeah, you're probably stupider." Sirius said in his more normal sarcastic tone.

"Very funny." Nina said dryly. "I already have an older brother at home you know, I don't really need one here as well."

He looked at her in that strange way again and moved a strand of hair away from her face and said in a low voice, "Believe me, Nina.The last thing I want to be is your brother." And he walked away.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I hope you guys like this one! I might be going away for the weekend, so depending on how many reviews I get, I'll decide on whether or not I should post one or two chapters tomorrow. Hehehe. 


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 15

Nina stood alone in the Great Hall, completely stupefied. _What on earth was that supposed to mean? Okay…whatever it is you're thinking, forget it. Don't be ridiculous, Nina. Sirius doesn't like you like that. He's just teasing you again, like he always does. It's just your imagination. Yeah, that's it…my imagination. That's what it probably is. Crap, what if it isn't? How do I know? I can't ask him or anyone else. I'm not going to say anything that will make me end up looking like a fool. I'll just have to pretend I didn't hear it. How am I supposed to do that though? Ahh! I hate him! Why does he have to drive me crazy like this? Why am I so mental? Oh, there he is, sitting in the common room with his friends. Damn, I wish he was ugly. Okay…just keep walking. Don't look at them. Go up the stairs and into the dorm. That's it. Don't look. Walk straight up. Go to bed. Maybe in the morning you'll realize how stupid you were and everything will be back to normal.  
_

_

* * *

Oh shit. Did I just say that out loud? What was that supposed to mean? What am I trying to do? Sirius, you idiot, why did you say that? You don't fancy her, do you? No, of course not. She's just a friend. Like Sara and Lily. Right? Okay… maybe not exactly like them. Maybe it's just that I spend a lot more time with her, so I'm confusing some sort of weird platonic attraction for love. Love? Oh, hell no. Sirius doesn't love anyone…does he? Alright, get a grip of yourself. You're just thinking crazy now. But she's the one who's driving me crazy! Okay, just forget about it. Go to the common room. Oh look it's your friends. Just go sit with them and relax. Aah, this is better. Don't even think about Nina and what you just said to her. Shit! There she is walking into the common room. Uh oh. She doesn't look terribly cheery. She looks like she's concentrating really hard on something. Damn, what if it's because of what I said? Okay, if she doesn't look this way and wave or say hi then I know it's because of me. She's walking by...come on. Look this way. Please. Shit. She walked right by and ignored me. This is not good. I don't want things to be weird between us. What do I do? Alright, in the morning, I'm just going to pretend I didn't say anything, she'll think she was just being stupid as usual, and everything will be back to normal._

* * *

The next morning as Nina walked down to breakfast, her heart beating fast, she kept telling herself not to be stupid and that everything was just in her head. Her biggest fear was that Sirius would start to treat her differently. No matter what she really felt for him, she still loved having him as a friend. Her fears were soon abated when she heard a familiar "Oi, Nina!" coming from the table. She looked up and saw Sirius motion her to come and sit with him. Sara and Lily were already seated across him with Remus and James. When she came closer to him she gave him a quizzical smile and he frowned at her. 

"Why are you so late?" he asked.

"What's it to you?" she replied as she sat down. She looked across and noticed that James and Lily were sitting next to reach other.

"So, Nina. You missed the big news." Sara said suddenly.

"What news? What happened?" Nina asked her.

"Oh, nothing." Lily said rolling her eyes and turning slightly pink.

"What do you mean nothing?" James asked offended.

"It's not a big deal, James." Lily said turning even pinker now.

"Well, it is for me," he said indignantly and then turned to Nina and said with a cocky grin, "Lily is going to the dance with yours truly!"

"Oh!" Nina exclaimed happily. "That's wicked."

"I know." James said with a sigh. "All these years, and she's finally succumbed to my charms." Lily rolled her eyes and tried not to smile.

"So I guess we're all gonna be hanging out together then." Nina said while starting to eat her toast.

"We are?" Sara asked, "Who are you going with?"

Nina pointed to Sirius who was leaning back in his chair trying very hardto look uninterested in the conversation.

James looked across at him suspiciously. "Why you sneaky little—" James muttered before Remus kicked him from under the table.

"Sirius, you asked Nina to the dance? That's so sweet!" Sara said smiling at him.

"No it's not." Nina said dryly. "He didn't even ask me."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked confusedly.

"Well, _Big Brother_ over here didn't let anyone come near me. He got all crazy saying all these guys were after my stuff or something weird like that and then he said I was too stupid to go with anyone else. So he told me I had to go with him." Nina said unenthusiastically and Sirius nodded in agreement.

"What else was I supposed to do?" he said with mock concern.

"Aw, that's still sweet." Sara said.

"Yeah." James said a little more skeptically looking at Sirius, "Very sweet."

"Well, I don't really mind." Nina said casually. "At least I won't be going with someone I don't really know. It'll be more fun and relaxed. Especially since I know you're not after my stuff, right Sirius?"

Sirius looked at Nina wondering if maybe she was hinting at something. _What is she trying to tell me? Does she know that I really _am_ after her stuff? No, of course not. She's just kidding around, man. Relax. Play it cool._ He grinned cockily and said, "Yeah, Nina. You wish I was."

Nina rolled her eyes at him as they all got up from the table to head to their classes. _See, I told you it was just your stupid imagination,_ she told herself as they walked on. _He was just being his joking self as usual. Besides, why would he even be interested in you? You're not his type._ Nina frowned to herself as she, Sara, and Lily entered their Transfiguration class. She noticed that Sirius had been stopped in the corridor by a couple of girls. _See, he isn't even **your** type. Since when did you ever like the popular ladies' man kind of guy? _

Sirius walked into the Transfiguration classroom five minutes later than everyone else, looking for a seat with his friends. James pointed to the empty seat next to him and Sirius sat down. He eyed the rest of the room, trying to see where Nina was sitting. James gave him a nudge and pointed a few rows down to where she was. Sirius shrugged his shoulders at James in a way to say, "What?" James raised his eyebrow at Sirius.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Sirius whispered to him.

"Nina is sitting down there." James replied back.

"So?" Sirius asked him again, looking very confused.

"I dunno." James whispered back to him with a small grin tugging at his mouth. "I just thought maybe you were looking for her."

"No, I wasn't." Sirius said without returning a smile. James just shrugged at his friend, a grin still plastered onto his face. Sirius tried to pay attention to what Professor McGonagall was saying, but his mind kept running away with thoughts. _Shit, I'm making this too obvious. I don't want anyone getting any ideas. If one person knows, they'll all know, and then Nina will know for sure. And if she knows, then she'll start acting all awkward with me, I know it. I gotta be normal...go back to how we used to be. Just good friends... _

* * *

"You are the meanest person I have ever met in my life." Nina said sullenly to Sirius. 

"Listen, Nina. I'm telling you as a friend, I'm not trying to be mean. You don't need any more chocolate. You're getting too fat." Sirius tried to reason with her with a straight face while holding a bag of chocolate frogs. It was the day before the dance and Remus, Lily, James and the rest of the Prefects were busy running on last minute details before the event. Nina and Sirius were sitting on a couch in the common room waiting for the others to join them that evening. Nina was sitting comfortably on the sofa with her knees up to her chest. She was glaring at Sirius, who had just stolen her bag of chocolates.

"And don't look at me like that. I'm really not joking. I'm dead serious." Sirius said to her in a firm voice.

"You know what?" Nina said with irritation, "If I were any other girl, you'd be dead by now, _seriously_. I don't know why you enjoy bugging me so much. Or why I let you be so mean to me."

"It's 'cause you like the attention…or me." he said smugly.

"No, why would I like it…or even _you_ for that matter?" Nina retorted. "It's because I'm too nice. I think I should start being meaner. Like you."

"Ha!" Sirius laughed. "You're incapable of being mean."

Nina sighed in frustration and sunk her head down on her knees. "Can I please have my chocolate back?" she asked in a slightly muffled and whiny voice while holding her hand out.

"Okay, I don't know why you still think I'm kidding about that." Sirius scolded her while shooing her hand away. "I'm not. We're going to the dance together, and I don't want to be seen with a fatty."

"What?" Nina yelled while putting her head up and looking at him indignantly.

"Yeah! You gotta look hot. I refuse to take an un-hot girl to the dance." he said resolutely.

"Then why the heck did you want to take me in the first place?" she asked angrily.

"Oh, I'm sure you can do some magic and make yourself look up to standard." he said airily.

"I hate you." Nina frowned and sunk her head back down on her knees.

"Whatever. I know you're secretly madly in love with me." he joked.

"Ha. That's a good one." Nina said dryly, her head still down.

"Why do you always think I'm joking around with you?" he asked her a little more seriously.

"Because you always are." Nina said matter-of-factly while looking back up at him.

"Really?" he asked her quietly and then moved a little closer to her looked her in the eyes and asked in a softer voice, "What if I'm not?"

"Oh shut up!" Nina laughed, her face slightly warm, and pushed him away.

Sirius grabbed her wrist and asked with a grin, "Are you blushing, Nina?"

"No." she replied, still laughing and trying to pull her wrist out of his grip, "Don't be stupid."

Sirius looked down at her wrist and looked a little surprised, "You have the tiniest wrists I have ever seen in my life." He looked slightly worried and then shoved the bag of chocolates into her hand. "Here eat these. You're looking a little thin these days. You gotta plump up a bit. I don't like really skinny girls, you know."

"Well, I'm not going to base my diet on what _you_ like." Nina said, tossing the bag of chocolates away from her onto a table. _Hmm_, Nina thought to herself, _I have to make sure he doesn't think that I like him or anything. I hate those girls that throw themselves at guys. If he or anyone were to ever really like me, they'll just have to tell me straight out. There's no way I'm going to put my pride on the line and admit to anything first. _

Just as this thought crossed her mind, the rest of the gang cheerfully entered the common room, their faces full of excitement, all talking at once about how amazing the dance was going to be. Although he seemed to be listening, Sirius's mind was somewhere else. _Man, I can't tell with her. Sometimes I think she might like me, and then other times I think for sure she doesn't. I can't say anything to her unless I get some kind of sign. Enough things in my life are screwed up right now, I don't need to add this to the list..._

That whole night Sirius lay awake just thinking about Nina. He was trying to remember if there was anything that she ever said or did that would've hinted to her liking him._ I can't think of anything! This is so frustrating. Okay, that's it. Tomorrow I'm going to try to weasel any type of information out of her. If I get any hints, I'll tell her. _

He was starting to feel that he really liked her a lot, and he was scared.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews from the last chapter! Hope this one was ok...don't forget to read the next chapter as well! 


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 16

The last day of school before the break had finally arrived and the school was buzzing with excitement. Nobody paid attention to any of their classes; the students were either daydreaming about the evening, or passing notes to each other discussing it. Once the last class of the day was finally over, the students all dashed to their dorms to start getting ready.

Nina, Lily and Sara were in their dorm for only five minutes before it looked like a tornado had gone through it. Clothes, make up, and accessories were being thrown left, right and center as they all tried to scramble up something suitable to wear.

"Okay, how does this look?" Sara said as she came out from behind her closet door.

"Whoa!" Nina said looking at her stunned. Sara was wearing a short black skirt and a slinky light pink tank top.

"That's perfect! You look really hot." Lily said looking at her.

"Okay I know I can't pull off a skirt like that. I'm going to stick to black dress pants." Nina said sifting through her closet. She found a beaded turquoise tank top and tried it on with her pants. She looked at herself in the mirror. _Hmm…this doesn't look so bad. The neck and back is a little low though…and it's very fitted…I dunno…_

"Ahh!" Sara screamed suddenly and Nina turned around quickly to see what was the matter.

"Nina! You have got to wear that! Lily look at her."

"Oh yeah, Nina." Lily said smiling. "You'll definitely turn some heads."

"You guys don't think the back is too low?" Nina asked uncertainly looking at her back.

"Oh stop being such a fussy ninny. You're wearing this, and that's final. Mousse your hair up so it gets a little wavy and put on some darker eye makeup. And wear some heels." Sara ordered her.

"Okay, okay. You sound like you're my personal style assistant or something." Nina laughed. "Lily what are you wearing? Have you decided?"

"Hmm…I think I'm gonna go with this." she said looking at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a short navy blue dress with thin straps. Nina and Sara both thought she looked very pretty.

As soon as they were ready, the girls went down to the common room. Nina was feeling very nervous; she'd never dressed up so much before and she knew she looked very different. Remus and James were already waiting downstairs in the common room for their dates. Nina was a little relieved to see that Sirius wasn't there yet. She thought James and Remus looked very cute in their muggle outfits. As soon as they saw the girls they stood up and looked at them with slightly stunned expressions.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Remus asked still gawking at them.

James grinned and said, "See, I knew this dance was a good idea! I'm brilliant!"

"Shut up, Potter before I change my mind about going with you." Lily said with a smile.

"Where's Sirius?" Sara asked looking around for him.

"He was still doing his hair when we left." James answered.

"Geez. He better not look better than me." Nina said sarcastically.

"I highly doubt that." Remus said looking at her.

They all decided to leave and save seats for Nina and Sirius while she waited for him to come down. The longer she waited; the more butterflies began to creep into her stomach. She heard someone coming down the stairs and whistling to themself and figured it was probably him. She stood up from her chair just as Sirius walked into the seating area and they stopped at looked at each other for a second. Sirius was wearing a fitted black short-sleeved buttoned shirt and dark charcoal gray pants; his hair looked perfect.

Nina cleared her throat and said with a smile, "So…you look good."

"You do? I mean, I do?" he sounded a little flustered and but then recovered himself and said indifferently, "You look okay, I guess. Sorta different. Interesting hair." _Merlin, she looks hot. What the hell am I gonna do? Must…control…urge…to…touch…_

"Thanks." Nina said sarcastically.

"Well," Sirius said with a sigh, "it's too late to take anyone else to the dance, so I'll just have to break my rule and go with someone not-so-hot tonight."

"It's not that late, you know. I'm sure there's somebody you can take if you want." Nina said with a smirk.

Sirius took Nina's hand and said with a smile, "But then who's going to look after you?" _I'm not going to let anyone else even come near you._

Nina huffed and smiled wryly, "Let's go then. These guys are saving us seats." While walking to the Great Hall, Nina realized that Sirius was still holding her hand. She tried to release it a couple of times but noticed his grip got a little tighter each time she tried. He only let go when they reached the hall and entered through the double doors, Nina's jaw dropped. The hall was completely transformed into a dance club. There was a giant disco ball floating in the middle of the dance floor. The students were all finding seats at tables and greeting each other. There was music playing in the background but nobody had started dancing yet. They spotted the others sitting at a table close to the dance floor and joined them.

"Aww, you two look so cute!" Sara gushed at Nina and Sirius as they sat down at the table. "Don't they Remus?"

"Er—yeah!" Remus said like he was being forced to agree with her. "Really cute!"

"Oh be quiet." Nina muttered to them.

"Well, you guys are just in time." James said looking at the dance floor. "They're starting the dancing now." The lights dimmed and the disco ball started to spin slowly reflecting light around the room.

"Ooh! Let's go!" Sara jumped up while pulling Remus and dragging him towards the dance floor.

James looked a little nervous and said to Lily, "Um…would you like to dance, Lily?"

Lily smiled at him shyly and said, "Sure, why not." They got up and left Nina and Sirius alone, again.

"Nina, you didn't want to—" Sirius was about to say when Nina interrupted him.

"No. I can't dance. At least not to these slow songs." she said.

"Oh, okay. Cool. I didn't really want to anyways." Sirius said as he leaned back in his chair. He was about to say something when he heard a voice behind him and he turned to see who it was.

"Sirius! I have been looking everywhere for you. You promised me a dance, remember?" Sirius looked at the girl trying to remember what her name was.

"I did?" he said looking confused. _He did?_ Nina thought to herself, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Yes." she replied. "Why are you sitting here anyways? Don't you have a date?"

"Um, yes, I'm sitting with her, if you didn't notice." Sirius said feeling slightly irritated now.

"Who?" she asked looking at Nina and said in a sneering voice. "Oh. Well, do you want to dance with me or not?"

"Don't you have a date of your own?" Sirius questioned her.

"Yeah, but I got bored of him." she answered indifferently. Then she leaned closer to him and said brazenly, "Besides, you said you wanted to come with me but were stuck with someone else."

By this time, Nina was thoroughly pissed off and decided to take Sirius out of his misery. "Of course he'll dance with you! Go and dance with her, Sirius. It's not good to break a promise. Besides, there's no reason to be stuck here sitting with me. I need to go to the ladies' room anyways. I'll catch you later." Nina said getting up.

She walked straight to the washroom without looking back. When she stepped inside she went straight to the sinks and she looked at her face in the mirror. _You are so stupid. I told you to get those crazy ideas out of your head. You'll just end up getting hurt. Anyways, it's better this way. It'll make your life a lot less complicated. You know what you have to do when you get back home to your parents tomorrow. There's nothing standing in your way now._ Just the thought of going back home made her weak in the knees. She held on to the ledge of the sink and breathed deeply. When she felt better she checked her face in the mirror and fixed up her hair and walked out of the washroom.

"What took you so long?" Sirius was standing right outside of the washroom door.

"What are you doing here?" Nina asked him confusedly.

"Why did you leave me alone back there?" he asked her again.

"Why aren't you dancing?" she questioned him.

"Why aren't you answering my questions?" he sounded angry.

"Why aren't you answering mine?" Nina sounded even angrier.

"Because I asked you first." he said firmly.

"I don't remember what you asked me." she said uninterestedly.

"I asked why you left me alone so abruptly." he told her.

"I said I needed to go to the washroom…" Nina said sounding a little annoyed.

"That's all?" Sirius asked her skeptically. _Is he trying to get me to admit that I was jealous or something?_

"Yes…why else would I leave like that?" Nina asked him looking perplexed.

"I dunno." He shrugged his shoulders. "I thought maybe you were upset."

"Upset at what?" Nina asked.

"About what what's-her-face was saying." Sirius replied.

"I don't even remember what she said." Nina lied trying to look like she didn't care. _She's lying._

"Don't lie." he said.

"I'm not lying." Nina said offended, and he raised her eyebrow at her. "Don't look at me like that."

"Look, I told her I was going with someone else before I even decided to go with you. I just made up something to avoid going with her. So don't take anything she said personally." he explained.

"I didn't." Nina said nonchalantly. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Sirius. I'm fine. I seriously had to go to the washroom."

"Okay good." Sirius said with a forced smile. _Damn! I thought maybe she was jealous._ "Now come, I'm getting bored so you have to dance with me." He started to drag her towards the hall.

"Nooo. Really, I can't…" Nina said while he pulled her into the hall through the doors. "Maybe later."

"I know you won't." he said letting go of her and frowning. The music changed and some faster disco music started. Many of the girls shrieked and a lot of the boys ran off the dance floor as neon blue lights started shining around the hall.

"Oi Nina!" Nina saw Sara running towards her. "There you are. We were wondering where you two ran off to. Nina come, you gotta dance with us now. Your favorite song is on."

"Nina said she couldn't dance though." Sirius told Sara.

"Ha! That's a good one." Sara said sarcastically. "She dances better than any of us."

"Really?" Sirius asked her sounding surprised.

"No, she's ly—" Nina tried to say as Sara yanked her on to the dance floor. The song playing really was one of her favorites that she danced to by herself all the time. She quickly scanned the people around her and saw, most of them being girls at that particular moment, that none of them really knew how to dance. They all looked like they were having so much fun though so Nina figured she'd just let loose and dance with her friends. They danced until their feet ached and then walked back to their table where the boys were sitting, all looking very flushed.

"Here." Sirius said passing her a drink. "You look like you need this."

"Oh, thanks." Nina said cheerfully and drank it.

"So, is there anything else you want to lie to me about?" he said dryly.

"What do you mean?" She asked him confusedly.

"I thought you said you couldn't dance." he replied.

"No." James interjected. "_Lily_ can't dance."

"Hey!" Lily said indignantly.

While the others continued to argue about who could or couldn't dance, Nina picked up a napkin and started to fan herself.

"You look hot." Sirius said to her quietly. _Damn hot_.

"I am." Nina said still fanning herself.

"Do you want to go outside or something?" he asked her.

"Yeah sure." Nina replied and then asked Sara and Lily, "Hey do you guys want to go outside and cool off for a bit?" _No!_ Sirius thought to himself. _I don't want anyone else to come with us. Why is she so stupid? They better not say yes._

"Oh yeah!" Sara said. "I'm really warm." _Damn it!_ Sirius thought getting up. Remus got up as well and he asked Lily and James if they were going to join them.

"No, that's okay." Lily said. "I'm alright here."

"Yeah me too." James said, "I'm cool." The rest of them left the hall and walked out of the doors that were nearest to the Great Hall.

As soon as they were outside Remus whispered something in Sara's ear and she suddenly said, "Hey, we just gotta go check something out. We'll be back soon." And they ran off together. Nina rolled her eyes and Sirius laughed. They walked towards a terrace that overlooked a garden and stood there leaning over the ledge.

"It feels nice out here." Nina said looking across the grounds. "I'm sure I'll be freezing cold in about five minutes." _Hmm, I'm sure I can think of a way to make you warm_, Sirius was thinking.

"You still look hot though." Sirius muttered quietly.

"What?" Nina asked facing him now.

"So, are you going home tomorrow?" he asked her changing the subject.

Nina sighed and replied a little drearily, "Yeah. Should be an interesting holiday."

"Doesn't sound like you're too excited about it." he said.

"Yeah…I'm not. My family's a little…complicated." Nina said slowly.

"Well, I'm sure they're not as screwed up as mine." Sirius said with a smile.

"I dunno…" she said.

"Trust me. If you're willing to go home to them, you're better off than me. I'm going to the Potter's this break." he explained.

"Oh. I guess." She shrugged and Sirius thought Nina looked a little sad. "I'm cold now."

"Yeah, me too." Sirius said and they decided to go back inside. When they went inside and walked down the corridor, they happened to see Lily and James together. Nina and Sirius stopped abruptly when they both realized that James and Lily probably didn't want anyone to see them at that particular moment. They must have heard Nina and Sirius though because they quickly moved away from each other. Lily's face was beet red and James looked a little flustered.

Sirius cleared his throat and said, "Don't mind us. We're just passing through." He took Nina's arm in his and they both walked straight towards the hall, both trying really hard not to burst out laughing. When they walked in they saw Remus and Sara and informed them of what they just saw.

Sara was hysterical. "Oh man! This is just too good! I'm going to have so much fun bugging Lily tonight." The four of them hung out the rest of the evening waiting to see if Lily or James would return. When the dance was finally over and they still didn't come, they all decided to call it a night and went back to their dorms. Nina and Sara were packing their trunks for the next day's journey when Lily finally came in.

"Well, well, well." Sara said grinning at Lily. "Aren't we looking very flushed?" Lily covered her face with her hands and plopped backwards on her bed. "So spill your guts, girl. I want to hear every detail."

"Sara!" Nina exclaimed. "Don't be so nosey."

"Oh, its nothing." Lily said moving her hands away from her face.

"Didn't look like nothing to me." Nina said with a smirk.

"No, that was it really. I don't even know what happened. We were just talking and then James just kissed me out of nowhere." Lily explained.

"Ooh!" Sara said, "So what did you do?"

"Nothing! I let him." She looked embarrassed and then continued, "That's when we got caught. I was so embarrassed but then James was really sweet and he took me for a walk. That's it. We just talked and stuff."

"So that's it?" Sara asked sounding a little disappointed.

"Yeah, I guess." Lily shrugged. "So what did I miss?"

"Nothing exciting." Nina said. "We were all just gossiping about you two."

"So I guess there'll be rumors around the school by tomorrow morning that the Head Boy and Girl are dating, eh?" Lily asked dryly.

"Probably." Nina agreed. "So what're you going to do"

Lily got up from her bed and headed towards the washroom. She turned around said, "Nothing. The rumor just might be true." She smiled broadly and shut the door.

* * *

"So…have a good holiday, then." Nina told Sirius as they boarded off the train at King's Cross Station the next morning. The rest of the gang were still on the train giving their significant other extra long goodbyes.

"Yeah, you too." he said.

"Try not to miss me too much, okay?" she said with a wry smile.

"You know that will be impossible. I don't know how I'm going to last two weeks without you bugging me." Sirius replied trying to sound sad. _Man, I really do feel sad. I still can't figure her out._

"I'm sure you'll survive." Nina said sympathetically.

"I hope so." he said with a smile. He started to feel nervous._Okay, stupid. What are you supposed to do now? Should I give her a hug? I hugged the other girls; it might be odd if I don't hug her._

"Well," Nina said anxiously, "I better go and look for my parents." _So this is awkward. Am I supposed to hug him goodbye? I hugged James and Remus. Wouldn't it be odd if I didn't hug him? Especially considering I'm supposed to be better friends with him than those guys? If I don't hug him, he'll know I think of him differently. Wait...what if he doesn't hug **me**? Then I'll know for sure these past couple of weeks weren't just my imagination..._

"Oh. Yeah…right. Okay then..." he said and held out his hand._ A handshake? What are you, some kind of mental case? Oh, she looks a little taken aback, quickly do something, you fool._ As soon as Nina took his hand, he pulled her into a brief hug. When he let go he said, "Take care of yourself, Nina." _Why don't you tell her how you feel, you thick-skulled buffoon. What are you waiting for?_

"You too." Nina said and smiled, although inside she felt very sad. _Well, I guess that's it then. It **was** just me after all._ She started to walk slowly towards the greeting area when she heard Sirius call her. She turned around and saw him coming towards her.

"Nina, wait." he said a little anxiously. "Before you go…I—uh—just wanted to tell you something." _Oh Merlin, how do I say this?_

"What is it?" she asked him looking concerned. _What does he want to say? He looks nervous. Oh damn…maybe he does..._

"I—um—just that…," he stuttered, "if…you're ever going to be in town this holiday, then come and visit me." he finished lamely. _Ugh. Really smooth._

"Oh." Nina said trying very hard to sound remotely cheerful. "Okay sure. I doubt that I'll get a chance though, but if I do, I'll definitely let you know." They said good-bye again and Nina headed back, feeling thoroughly depressed now, to the greeting area to find her parents. Sirius joined James and his parents and saw Nina with her's in the distance.

Sirius watched her as she left with them and he suddenly felt really uneasy, like he had just lost something. _Why do I have this sinking feeling that I've just made a really big mistake?_

* * *

A/N: Ooh, it's all downhill for Sirius from here folks! hahaha! Hope you enjoyed those chapters. Since I was nice and posted two chapters today, I expect lots of reviews! Next chapter will be posted after the weekend. Have a good one! 


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 17

It took her all winter break, but Nina finally convinced herself that she had done the right thing. As she walked through the train corridors looking for her friends, she kept thinking about how exactly she was going to tell them what happened. _They're gonna think I'm crazy,_ she thought to herself nervously while peeping through compartment windows. After she had passed a few more doors, she saw a flash of vibrant red hair through one of the windows. She reached out to slide the door open and noticed that her hand was shaking slightly.

"Hey!" Lily exclaimed as she walked into the compartment. Sara and Remus were sitting across Lily and they got up to greet Nina.

"So how were your holidays?" Sara asked her.

"Well, actually," Nina said tensely, "you won't believe what happened if I told you."

"Why?" Lily asked looking a little concerned. "What happened?" _Well, here goes,_ Nina thought, her heart really racing now. She took off her gloves and stuck her left hand out, breathing out slowly.

"Oh. My. Goodness." Was all that Lily could say as she gawked at the diamond ring on Nina's finger.

"Holy shit, Nina! You got engaged?" Sara freaked out. Nina nodded slowly with an uneasy smile.

Remus, looking a little confused, asked her, "Who's the guy?"

"Oh, well you guys don't know him. He doesn't go to Hogwarts." Nina replied.

"Oh." Remus said looking less confused, but then his face looked a little anxious again as another thought seemed to cross his mind.

"So when did this happen? How did it happen? Oh my God, I'm so shocked!" Sara said excitedly.

"So, are you happy?" Lily interjected giving Nina a questioning smile.

"I think so…" Nina said cautiously as she took a seat next to Sara, "It all really happened so fast. I'm still trying to digest everything."

"So…tell us all about him! Where did you guys meet?" Sara asked curiously.

"Well, I actually met him last summer at my sister's engagement. You know her fiancé? Well, he's his cousin. His name is Sean. He's in law school."

"Ooh! A lawyer!" Lily exclaimed.

"Wait," Sara interjected, "He's a muggle?"

"Yeah." Nina answered.

"Does he know you're a witch?" she asked.

"Er—" Nina looked a little anxious and was about to answer when the compartment door started to slide open and James and Sirius's voices could be heard. _Oh damn!_ Nina suddenly had an urge to pull the ring off of her finger and stick it in her pocket, but she couldn't move. Remus quickly got up from his seat and went to the door before the other boys could come in, and stepped outside with them. The girls exchanged glances of confusion and wondered what that was all about.

Meanwhile, outside, Sirius and James were wondering why Remus came outside the compartment door as well.

"Hey, Moony. What's up?" James asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh I just er…needed to ask Sirius something real quick." Remus looked a little worried about something.

"What is it?" Sirius asked feeling concerned.

"Um…okay I know this might be an odd question, but, did anything ever happen between you and um…Nina…last semester?" Remus said cautiously.

"Nina?" Sirius asked his heart started to beat a little faster; he looked confused and said, "No. Why?"

"Oh…okay." Remus said looking relieved. "I dunno I got the impression that maybe you liked her or something."

"You did?" Sirius asked, his face feeling a little warm.

"Hey I thought so too." James said. "You did act a bit odd at times, especially when she was around."

"I did?" Sirius didn't realize his friends had suspected anything, and didn't tell either of them anything. The truth was that during the holidays, he had tried to convince himself that he and Nina were fine just being friends, and that he shouldn't ruin things by telling her how he really felt. He didn't really understand why he was holding back so much. He wanted to find out if maybe she liked him too before saying anything to her. "But, we're just friends..."

"Well, I hope so." Remus muttered.

"Why?" Sirius asked feeling really uneasy, when the door slid open and Sara was standing at the door.

"What are you guys doing out here? Come inside, you won't believe what happened!" Sara told James and Sirius excitedly. Back inside the compartment, Nina felt like disappearing. She was so nervous about seeing Sirius again that she wanted to throw up. _Why am I so messed up? I don't care about him anymore. At least not like that. You got over him during the break, remember? It's all about Sean now. Yes. That's it. You like him. Not Sirius. He's got everything. He's sweet, smart, really good-looking, rich, and he likes you a lot. He doesn't get moody or tease you so much, like Sirius does. Why am I comparing him to Sirius? Sirius never liked you like Sean does. So forget about him._ Sara ushered the boys back into the compartment, Sirius and James looking a little confused.

"So tell them, Nina!" Sara told her.

"Tell them what?" she asked nervously, covering up her left hand.

"Don't be stupid." Sara said grabbing her hand and showing them her ring. "Nina got engaged." Nina could feel her face turning hot. She didn't want to look at them.

"Oh…wow…" James looked very surprised. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Nina muttered quietly looking up at him. They both sat down across her next to Lily. Nina stole a quick glace at Sirius; she thought he would say some smart-ass remark or get mad at her for not telling him before, but instead he looked like he had been stupefied. _I can't believe this. I am so stupid. No, wait. **She** is so stupid. How could she do that? Doesn't she know how I feel about her? Of course she doesn't, you idiot. You never told her. How was she supposed to know? And anyways, even if she did know, what makes you so damn sure she liked you back? She obviously didn't so get over it!_ Sirius wished he could just run out of the room and hit something, but he knew he couldn't let anyone know his feelings, especially now. It was too humiliating. The room suddenly became very tense; nobody was quite sure what to think. Sirius noticed the silent tension and quickly snapped out of his shock.

He looked at Nina with a raised eyebrow and said with a bit of a sneer, "So...who in their right mind agreed to marry you, Nina?"

"Sirius!" Lily scolded him, looking at Nina's hurt reaction to what he said. "What do you mean? Who wouldn't want to?"

Sirius shrugged and said lazily, "Who should I start with?"

"Okay, okay." Remus interjected when Lily was about to say something back."Sirius, there's no need to argue over something so pointless."

"Oh, it's okay, Remus." Nina said in a steady voice, glaring at Sirius, "I expected this out of him. I'm used to it."

"Used to what?" Sirius said glaring right back at her.

"At you, being mean to me. I don't really care." She shrugged and crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat.

"Yeah." Sirius said glaring right back at her. "I know you don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nina asked irritated.

"Nothing." he said and muttered. "You're too stupid to know anything." Nina felt a sudden surge of anger. _I knew you'd be like this. I had a feeling. I don't know why the heck I ever liked you. You mean, arrogant, aaaaaaaah! _She rolled her gloves into a ball and threw it right into Sirius's face. Sirius caught the gloves and looked up at her with a shocked expression. Nina was still glowering at him. Everyone else wasn't sure what to do; they kept looking back and forth between Nina and Sirius. Sirius felt his grip on the gloves tighten; he wanted to throw it right back at her. The only thing that stopped him from doing it was James prying the gloves out of his hands. Nina and Sirius were still looking at each other angrily as James threw the gloves across to Sara.

"So…" James cleared his throat, "how was everyone's holidays?"

Lily started to answer him in extra cheery voice. Nina finally looked away from Sirius. She didn't look at him again even once the rest of the ride back to Hogwarts, although she was sure she could feel his stormy grey eyes on her every now and then.

When they were unpacking their trunks in the dorm, Sara and Lily started to ask Nina details about what happened over the break that they couldn't ask in front of the boys.

"So are you going to tell us the whole story or what?" Sara asked her curiously. "Did you know this was going to happen or did it just happen out of the blue?"

Nina sighed. She wasn't in the mood to talk about anything right now but she figured that she did owe her friends an explanation for not telling them anything before. "Well, okay see, over the summer I met him at my sister's engagement. I thought maybe he was interested in me but I just ignored it. But I guess somehow my mother found out that he was and she started telling me about how he would be perfect for me and about how his family was really nice and all this stuff. Then he actually went and told my parents that he was seriously interested in me and that was it. My parents were all for it and I was really unsure. My sister got really excited because she figured we'd be part of the same family, so she tried to further convince my parents. Anyways, I didn't really care. I told them I would think about it during the semester. But then in September, my mother sent me a letter, she dropped this bomb on me telling me that I couldn't tell him about me going to Hogwarts and that his family wanted a decision by December. They said they'd let me have my fun for seven years and once I graduated, that was it. I had to go on living like 'normal' people and live a 'normal' life."

"What?" Sara interrupted incredulously.

"Yeah, I know, it sounds bad. But, I mean, they don't understand any of this. They're really conservative. I'm lucky they let me even come here. So it's almost like I owe them or something. Anyways, I didn't really have an excuse to say no, did I? There's nothing wrong with Sean, there was nothing I could say against him. He's practically perfect. And I didn't have anyone else that I could tell my parents that I would rather be with. So that was it. I didn't really have a choice. But whatever happened, I think it's for the best. I think I'm okay with it now." Nina concluded.

"You're okay with it _now_?" Lily asked her uncertainly.

"Yes." she answered.

"Nina, don't you think you should be more than _okay_ with someone in order to think about marrying them?" Sara questioned her.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Nina retorted. "I don't have anyone else besides my family that I can depend on. They've supported me my whole life, I can't just turn my back on them now."

"But, Nina, what if you liked someone else? Couldn't you tell your parents that?" Lily asked her.

"So what?" Nina answered. "Just because you like someone doesn't mean that they like you back."

"Wait a minute," Sara interrupted, "_do_ you like someone else?"

"No." Nina said without any hesitation, while pulling the covers off of her bed. _Maybe I did, but I don't anymore. Especially at this moment._ "If anyone liked me, they should have told me before the holidays. Now it's too late. Anyways. I'm tired. I think I'm going to sleep. Good night."

Lily and Sara exchanged significant looks with each other and went downstairs to meet up with Remus and James. When they reached the fireplace in the common room, they noticed that Sirius wasn't with them.

"He went to bed. Said he was tired or something." James answered after Lily asked where he was.

"Hmm. Nina went to sleep too. I think she's really angry at him." she told him.

"Yeah, I think he's pretty pissed off too. Although I don't know why he'd be so angry about her being angry. He always bugs her…" James looked a little perplexed.

"Well, you guys are his friends," Sara said frankly, "do you think maybe…now, I'm just speculating, I could be wrong…do you think Sirius likes Nina or something?"

"Well," Remus said thoughtfully, "I thought maybe he did, but I asked him and he said they were just friends."

"Yeah." James agreed with him. "Unless he was lying, or doesn't know it himself."

"So can't you guys just ask him straight out?" Lily asked them.

"Er…well, I don't think so. Not right now anyways. He won't say anything when he's in a bad mood. We'll have to wait until he's not so angry." James said.

If that were the case, then they would have to wait for a much longer time than they thought, because Sirius's bad mood didn't seem to be going away. When he woke up the next morning, all he could think about was Nina. He couldn't figure out if he still liked her or if he hated her guts. He was the first person down to breakfast that morning. He started to eat, but everything tasted like cardboard. He wasn't in the mood to eat. He was just eating to stave off the hunger pangs in his stomach.

He was only by himself for ten minutes before he saw Nina coming down the hall. He felt his stomach tighten up in a knot and put down his fork. Sirius thought she looked prettier than ever walking down towards him, not even noticing he was there. As soon as she caught his eye, her face turned a little cold. She looked like she was hesitating a little, trying to figure out where she should sit. She decided to sit a few seats away from him on the other side of the table. She looked up at him and noticed he was still looking at her. She frowned at him and turned her head away.

She started to butter some toast when she heard Sara and Lily's voices behind her. They came and sat down next to her. Nina reached over to grab a pitcher of pumpkin juice when Sara exclaimed, "Nina! Where's your ring?"

"What?" Nina said putting down the pitcher and then looking at her hand. "Oh, I guess I forgot to put it on." They heard a scoff come from Sirius and turned to look at him.

"What?" Nina asked him sounding annoyed. He just chuckled to himself and continued eating his breakfast. Nina glowered at him for a second and then finished eating her breakfast.

* * *

Muggle Studies was the first class of the day. When they all sat down to listen to their professor, she handed them leaflets for a new term assignment.

"Excuse me, Professor!" Sirius raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Black?" she questioned.

"Are we going to be working in the same groups as last term or can we change them now?" he asked. Nina looked behind at him and he narrowed his eyes at her with a haughty smirk.

"I'm sorry." The professor said, "I would actually prefer if you stayed in the same groups, it's just easier for me to mark this way. Besides, I think everyone worked remarkably well together. You all did very a very good job on your assignments last term." Sirius looked a little disappointed and Nina could feel her face get hot with anger. _What a bastard.  
_

Sara looked at Nina and mouthed to her, "Ignore him." Nina just rolled her eyes and continued to listen to the professor explain the project. It turned out that they had to meet in the library that night to do some preliminary research. Sara and Nina waited for half an hour before Sirius decided to show up.

"You're late." Sara said curtly, looking up from a pile of books on one of the tables in the library. Nina refused to notice his presence and continued to take some notes down.

"Aren't I always." Sirius slumped down onto a chair. "So what do we have to do? I want to get out of here as fast as I can." Nina gripped her quill tighter.

Everything that Sirius said somehow sounded so arrogant and it made her cringe with irritation.

"You know what we have to do. We discussed it in class, remember? You have to do number three and four on the outline." Sara told him.

"Oh okay. In that case, here you go." he said handing her a sheet of parchment. "I already did it."

"Oh." Sara looked over his work. "Okay."

"So is there anything else I need to do? Or can I leave?" He sounded bored.

"Why do you want to leave so badly?" Sara asked him curiously.

"Let him go, Sara. It's better. Maybe we'll actually get some work done." Nina said while not looking up from her work.

"Yeah. That is, if you don't screw up your part, like you usually do." Sirius said to Nina.

Nina turned her head to Sara, still not looking in his direction, "When did Sirius start talking to himself, Sara?"

"Oh, when did Nina become such a bitch, Sara?" Sirius retorted still looking at Nina.

"Okay you guys, this is getting ridiculous. I don't understand why you two are fighting." Sara started to get annoyed.

"Not like I know." Nina mumbled looking back down at her notes.

"Of course you wouldn't. You wouldn't know even if it hit you on the head. You're too bloody thick." Sirius said through clenched teeth.

"Okay I'm gonna go." Nina said moving her seat back a little. "I don't have patience for this right now."

"No, don't go." Sirius said standing up. "I was just leaving." He stormed out of the library.

"What is wrong with him?" Sara said shaking her head.

"You know what? I really don't give a crap." Nina and Sara worked the rest of the evening in silence.

* * *

Nina and Sirius completely ignored each other for a whole week until one day; Nina was walking towards the Great Hall for dinner carrying a bunch of books that she had just checked out of the library. Sirius and Peter were running down the hall when Sirius slammed right into Nina, knocking her down with all the books.

"Oh, sor—," He bent down to quickly to pick up the books when he realized it was Nina. He immediately got back up again and said reproachfully, "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

Nina got up and muttered, "Why don't you shove these books up your ass?"

Sirius was a little surprised by what she said and then felt anger boil up in him again. He stood there for a second and then flung the books back out of Nina's hands and walked away with Peter, leaving her stunned.

Nina slammed the books onto a seat at the table in the Great Hall. Sara, Lily, Remus and James were already eating. They all looked up at her and she said to James and Remus, "Your friend is an asshole."

They both looked at each other a little uncomfortably and James said, "Oh…why? What did he do?"

Nina was about to say what he did when she heard a roar of laughter behind her. She turned around and saw Sirius and Peter coming to the table. Nina immediately got up and grabbed her books and said, "I'm not hungry. I'll see you guys later."

"Oh, Nina. What's the matter?" Sirius said in a condescending voice coming next to her. "You too chicken to sit at a table with me now?"

"You know what? I'm just gonna—," Nina was about to retort.

"You're gonna what? Ooh, are you going to get your fiancé to come after me or something?" He was patronizing her. Nina was so angry now she just grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on. Everyone at the table stood up in surprise as Nina flung a whole pitcher of cranberry juice onto his face. Sirius stood there staring at her and blinking out juice from his eyes…and then he sprang forward.

"Oh shit!" Nina yelped and she ran around the table and hid behind James and Remus as Sirius lunged after her. "Get him away from me!"

"Alright!" Sirius said as James and Remus were holding him back away from Nina. "I'm not going to do anything, okay." They relaxed their grip and Sirius suddenly took out his wand and flew a curse right at Nina that hit her square in the stomach. She doubled over in pain and felt a wave of nausea sweep over her.

Sara and Lily ran to her and Remus said angrily, "What the hell did you do?"

Sirius rolled his eyes and said, "Relax, it's the same hex I use on you guys all the time."

"Sirius! That hurts, you idiot! You can't use it on girls!" James said looking horrified.

"Oh damn, she looks green." Remus bent down to her.

"Oh." Sirius said feeling a little guilty. "I didn't know it hurt _that_ much." He looked at Nina. She had to blink back the tears that were stinging her eyes. "Uh…okay I'll take her to Madam Pomfrey's." He took a few steps towards her.

"No!" Nina said frantically clutching her stomach and getting up. "Don't come near me!" _I think I'm going to die…_ She only walked a few steps before she passed out cold onto the ground.

* * *

A/N: Haha! So now you all know what the big secret was. Not so exciting, I know... I had fun writing this chapter though. I hope it was fun to read. I know Sirius was a real jerk in this chapter...he's very emotionally unstable at the moment. Hehehe! Thanks for all the reviews from the last chapters! Tell me what you thought of this one... 


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 18

Nina opened her eyes groggily and looked around her. She couldn't recognize the room she was lying in. There were empty beds with white sheets around the room and it smelled like bitter potions. _Where am I?_ She tried to get up slowly when her stomach started to hurt and she fell back down. _Ow. What the hell?_ Then she remembered what happened. _Sirius. I'm going to kill him_.

"Oh, are you awake, dear?" came Madam Pomfrey's voice as she walked into the room. "Here now, let me help you sit up. Does it still hurt?" Nina nodded her head.

"How long have I been here?" she asked the healer.

"You've only been out for a few hours, so don't worry. Your friends dropped you off. They said you accidentally got hit by a curse." _Right. Accidentally_.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Nina asked her.

"You need to finish taking these potions during the night. You can probably leave early in the morning, but you're going to feel very tired for the next few days. It's a side effect of the sedative for the pain." Madam Pomfrey explained to Nina.

"Oh. Okay." She felt numb after taking her medication. At dawn she was allowed to leave so she walked back to the dorm, slowly. It was too early for anyone to be awake. She saw her bed and plopped right into it and fell asleep. Nina suddenly found herself in her bedroom at home. There was a strange light coming from outside her door. She got up and reached for the doorknob. She opened the door slowly and saw someone standing outside in the hallway with his back towards her. She recognized the familiar tall figure and black hair. He turned around to face her and it wasn't who she thought it was—it was Sean. His hair was suddenly brown again and he looked uncharacteristically harsh. _What's wrong?_ She thought to herself. He took out a wand from behind his back and stared at it. He started to laugh out loud and he suddenly flung a hex at Nina and it hit her in the same spot as Sirius's had. She felt the familiar eruption of pain go through her, and she gasped for breath as she almost fell out of her bed.

"Nina!" Lily ran towards her friend. "I'm sorry! There was a draft and it slammed the door shut. Did you get scared?"

"No…" Nina said holding her stomach. "I just had a bad dream."

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked her.

"I dunno." Nina answered her pulling the covers over her. "A little numb. And tired. I have to keep taking these sedatives. What time is it?"

"Eight." Lily answered.

"In the evening? I slept the whole day?" Nina exclaimed and she felt another jolt in her stomach.

"Don't worry about it." Lily said soothingly. "You get your rest. We got all your notes and assignments for you." Nina took another sedative and was soon back into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Nina got ready to go to her classes. She still felt very weak, but figured she didn't want to miss out on any more school. When they were ready, Nina started to walk slowly down the stairs to the common room with Sara and Lily. She took a few steps and looked down, and caught a glimpse of James and Remus sitting down. She took a few more steps and saw Sirius, sitting next to them, with his head down in his hands. Remus looked up and saw the girls coming and he immediately muttered something to Sirius, who shot his head up quickly, looking in their direction. Nina froze for a second and then turned her head away, her heart was hammering in her chest and she could feel blood start to get warmer. _I can't face him right now…I might accidentally kill him._ Her stomach knotted up and the pressure started to make it hurt again.

"Hey." Nina called to her friends, "You guys go on ahead. I don't know if I'm really feeling up to going to class today." Sara and Lily gave Nina an inquisitive look and then looked down towards where the boys were sitting, and then back up at Nina.

"Nina…are you sure you don't…feel well?" Lily asked her a little apprehensively.

"Yeah." Nina answered. "My stomach hurts. I'm gonna go lie down for a bit. If I feel better I'll come later."

"Okay, then." Sara shrugged. "Hope you feel better."

"Thanks." Nina said as she turned around and went back up to her dorm. When Sara and Lily reached where the boys were sitting they asked why Nina didn't come down with them.

"She said she wasn't feeling too well and decided to go back to sleep." Lily answered.

"Oh please." Sirius said getting up from his seat. "I know she didn't come down because of me."

"The world doesn't revolve around you, Sirius." Sara reproached him. "You did hurt her pretty badly you know. She needs her rest." Sirius grumbled something unintelligible and started to walk out of the common room, looking very dejected.

Sara and Lily didn't see Nina until they went back up to the dorms after dinner that evening. Nina was just coming out of the washroom when they entered the room.

"Hey, Nina." Sara said. "How are you feeling?"

Nina shrugged, "A little better I guess. Still feeling a bit drowsy." She climbed back into her bed.

"Did you eat anything at all today?" Lily asked her, "Do you want us to bring you something to eat?"

"Not hungry." Nina said in a quiet voice.

"You should eat something." Sara said firmly. "You look as pale as a ghost."

Nina shook her head. "Maybe later."

"So…" Lily started to say. "Everyone was asking about you today."

"Oh really?" Nina asked.

"Yeah. Lots of people from class did. Oh and of course James and Remus were asking how you were doing…and Sirius." she added in quieter tone. Nina's soft expression suddenly turned cold.

"You know, Nina." Sara said noticing the change in her face. "Sirius feels really awful about what happened." Nina glared at her and Sara quickly added, "Of course, he's still an ass though."

"Yes. He is." Nina agreed with her.

"So…have you heard from Sean lately?" Lily wanted to change the subject.

"Not since last week." Nina replied.

"You didn't tell him what happened, did you?" Sara asked her.

"No, of course not." Nina replied. "How do I tell him about it?"

Lily looked a little uncomfortable, like she was trying to get up the courage to say something, "You know, Nina. I was thinking…don't you think it's…wrong…to hide something like this from Sean?"

"Why?" Nina was confused. "What's going to happen if I don't tell him that Sirius attacked me?"

"Not that, stupid." Sara interjected. "The fact that you're a bloody witch."

"Oh." Nina said dumbly.

"I mean, you can't hide it forever. What if someday, somehow he finds out?" Lily said rationally.

"Or if you have a kid that's a wizard one day. How are you going to explain that?" Sara added.

Nina started to feel tense again. She had always thought of these things in her mind and disregarded them, but somehow hearing it from someone else made it sound much more important. "I dunno guys." she said sounding a little upset. "I can't think about this right now. Don't stress me out." She pulled her blanket up to her chin.

"We're not trying to stress you out, Nina." Lily said calmly. "I just think that trust in a relationship is vital. And I don't want to see you get hurt over this." _Too late_, Nina thought as she closed her eyes and tried not to think about the dull pain resonating in her abdomen.

* * *

Nina finally decided to go down to breakfast the next morning. It was a Saturday so she didn't have to worry about going to her classes. She was feeling a little less angry with Sirius, and a little more worried about Sean. When the girls entered the Great Hall, she saw the boys all sitting together at the end of the table. Sirius was on the end, his head leaning on his left hand, the other hand holding a fork, poking his food. He looked really glum, and Nina felt a very tiny tinge of sympathy—but not enough to forgive him yet.

"Hey, Nina!" James said cheerfully when he saw her coming to the table. "It's good to finally see you! How are you feeling?" Sirius quickly dropped his fork and looked up at her. She looked very pale and…thin. _Holy shit!_ Sirius exclaimed to himself. _What did I do to her? She looks so frail. I'm such an ass. _He looked back down miserably and started to poke his food again.

Nina kept her eyes focussed on James and said with a sigh, "Tired."

"Yeah, you look really weak." Remus added with concern.

"I know! She's a bag of bones!" Sara exclaimed while piling some food on Nina's plate. "Eat all of this."

Nina stole a quick glance at Sirius. He was still looking down at his plate. He poked at his food a few more times and then just got up and left without saying anything. Nina tried to eat but she wasn't hungry; her mind was too preoccupied to feel like eating. She forced down a slice of toast and then headed to the library to try to catch up on the work she had missed.

While trying to study in the library, Nina's mind kept wandering off. Her thoughts kept drifting between Sean and Sirius. _How do I tell Sean about me being a witch? What if he freaks out and calls off the engagement? My parents will kick me out of the house! But…he's a nice guy. He seems to be an understanding person. If he really likes me that much, he won't care, will he? Man, why couldn't he just be a wizard, too? It would make life so much easier. Or why couldn't he just be Sirius? No…I didn't just think that. I don't like Sirius anymore. In fact, I hate him! This is his fault anyways. Why did he have to be so…so…likeable? I got so depressed during the break that I just didn't care anymore. I figured being with Sean would make me get over Sirius. A lot of good it did me. Now I'm not even friends with Sirius. The stupid jerk! I can't believe he attacked me! I don't care if he feels guilty now. He should! For a long time! I hope he_—Nina's thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat, trying to get her attention. She raised her head and saw Sirius, standing right in front of her.

Nina gave him a fierce look and he cleared this throat again. "Er…do you think maybe…I could talk…to you for a second?" He sounded really tense. Nina looked back down at her work and shook her head no; she still refused to say a word to him.

"It won't take long." he said, still sounding nervous. Nina didn't look up. Her hand automatically closed up into a fist and she started to crack her knuckles fiercely. Sirius sighed, "Look I just wanted to—" Nina suddenly ripped off a piece of parchment and started to crumple it loudly into a ball. "Fine." he said sullenly. "I can see that you're busy. I'll catch you later." He turned around and started to walk away. Nina had to fight the urge to throw the paper ball at him.

* * *

That whole week, Sirius attempted to talk to Nina on several occasions, and she ignored him each time. He started to get really frustrated. He knew that he deserved her anger, but he just wished she would yell at him or even hit him—anything but the silent treatment again. It drove him crazy. He got particularly upset one evening in the common room.

Nina was alone reading a book by the fireplace and he walked up to her. She ignored his presence as usual, and he grabbed her book. He thought maybe she'd say something to her or at least try to take the book back, but she just looked straight into the fire and crossed her arms, like she was bored. Sirius could take it anymore.

He threw the book on the floor and started ranting at her, "What the hell is wrong with you? How many times am I going to have to try to apologize to you? I'm sorry okay! I didn't mean to do it! I didn't want to hurt you intentionally! You know that I didn't. You're just being difficult with me for spite. I can't stand this anymore! I hate you! You stupid…stupid cow!"

Nina still didn't flinch after he finished his tirade, and he stormed out of the common room. Nina let out a breath and got up to pick up her book from the floor. She bent down to get it and ended up sitting on the ground. She felt really upset now. _He called me a stupid cow! I can't take much more of this. Okay, I think I've ignored the guy enough now. He's starting to hate me. No wait, he said he did. Great. I don't want him to hate me. I think I'll talk to him tonight when I see him. It takes too much energy to ignore him. It's starting to get on my nerves now._

A couple of hours later, Nina was walking down the corridor near the Great Hall. The hall was empty but she thought she could hear the sound of someone laughing. The more she walked forward, the louder the laugh got. She turned a corner and saw Sirius leaning against the wall.

She started for a second and was about to turn around in the other direction when he called out, "Oi! Just the person I wanted to see." He walked towards her and draped his arm around her shoulders.

"How's it goin', Nina?" His voice was a little slurred, and Nina could smell firewhiskey coming off of him.

"Sirius…" Nina said pulling his arm off of her.

"Yes, that's me." he said smiling.

"Are you drunk?" she asked with a little disgust.

"What?" Sirius asked exasperatedly. "Drunk? Of course not! Don't be stupid. You're always saying stupid things. You don't know anything, Nina." He looked like he was about to fall and Nina caught his arm.

"Er…yeah I know." she said uncertainly. "Why don't you come and sit down somewhere. You're not walking very straight."

"Oh!" he said as she took his arm and started to lead him away. "You know, you're really nice."

"Oh, thanks." Nina said walking with him.

"Yeah." he drawled on. "You're not like Nina."

"What?" Nina stopped walking. "I'm not?" _What the hell is he talking about?_

"Nope." he shook his head. "She hates me." _Why is he suddenly talking about me like I'm not here? Doesn't he know it's me? My God, he must be really drunk!  
_

"Uh—no," Nina said, really unsure of what to say, but playing along anyway. "I'm sure...she...doesn't hate you, Sirius."

"No, she does. I know it. And she should. I hurt her really badly. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't realize she was such a weakling. And now she's even weaker because of me. You should see her. When I saw her for the first time after I hexed her…" he shook his head guiltily, "I felt awful. I couldn't even look at her. I had to leave."

"I'm sure she's feeling better now though." Nina said reassuringly and starting to walk again.

"She looks a little better now." Sirius said and then sighed. "She's still the prettiest girl I have ever seen in my life."

"What?" Nina said, stopping again and looking at him in surprise. "She is?"

"Yeah." Sirius said as if it was obvious. "Oh, you should've seen her at the dance last term. I was just…whoa."

"I see." Nina said, that uneasy feeling creeping into her stomach again.

"Yeah." Sirius said in a daze. "But…hey…listen, don't tell her I said that. She's engaged now. I shouldn't say that kinda stuff about her."

"Okay…" Nina said hesitatingly, feeling very awkward. "I won't."

"I dunno why she had to go and get engaged." he shook his head ruefully. "She just ruined…everything. She doesn't even wanna be my friend anymore. What's with her fiancé anyways? Why does she like him? I heard that he doesn't even know she's a witch! What is she doing with him? That bastard! I swear if he ever hurts her, I'll just…" he said making stabbing motions with his wand.

"Okay, Sirius." Nina said taking the wand away from him gently. "I think maybe we should head to the common room. You should go to sleep."

"Yeah, you're right." Sirius said sadly. "You know, you're very smart. You're not dumb, like Nina. Okay, she's not actually dumb. I just say that to bug her. I love…bugging her. I wish she'd talk to me again so I could bug her. I miss it. She won't talk to me though. Especially now. I said some rude things to her that I didn't mean."

"I'm sure she'll talk to you soon. Don't worry." she said encouragingly.

"I hope so." he said quietly and then he looked at Nina with a dazed expression again. "You know, you're really beautiful. You kinda look like...Nina."

"Oh, wow. What a...coincidence." Nina said taking his hand and leading him towards the common room. Nina was relieved to see James and Remus standing near the portrait hole.

"Hey!" she called them and they turned to look at her and Sirius. They both looked at Sirius with concern.

"Yeah, he's totally drunk." Nina told them, handing Sirius over to them. "I just found him wandering around in the halls."

"I am not—_hiccup_!—drunk!" Sirius slurred indignantly.

"Of course not, Padfoot." James patted him on the back and Remus started to take him inside.

"Listen," Nina started to tell them, "don't tell Sirius I found him or anything."

"Oh…okay…but why?" James asked her curiously.

"Well…he was just talking a lot and saying some…weird stuff…I just don't want him to feel awkward in the morning or anything." Nina said.

"Okay." James said as they walked through the portrait hole. "Sure."

Nina went straight up to her dorm. Her mind was just racing with what everything Sirius had just told her. She was really confused. _I just don't know what to think anymore. What was he saying? Okay, he thinks I hate him and he's upset about that. Oh yeah and he said I was beautiful. But that doesn't really mean anything—I'm sure he thinks lots of people are. He said me getting engaged ruined everything. What was that supposed to mean? Ruined what? Our friendship? Yeah…that's probably it. He still sounds really protective over me…he threatened Sean! Anyways, he was piss drunk. I shouldn't really take anything he said to heart. Although now I'm really starting to feel uneasy about keeping this big secret from Sean about myself. I think…I'm going to write him. I'll just tell him everything. If he really cares about me, he'll be okay with it. And if not, then…I'll just have to deal with my parents, I guess. I can't live under them forever. Maybe it's a good thing. I'll be independent for once._ Nina felt a tiny rush of adrenaline mixed with nervousness as she took out her parchment and quill and started a letter to Sean. When she was done she slipped the letter in an envelope and addressed it. She put it on her bedside table and went into her bed. She thought it would be best to sleep over it and send it in the morning—just in case she changed her mind.

* * *

A/N: So...it's almost done, guys! Hope this chapter was a good one...let me know what you think! Thanks for all the reviews from the last chapter! I might post either tomorrow or the day after...depending on how many reviews I get. heh heh heh... 


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 19

Sirius was sitting alone at a table in the Great Hall. There was breakfast on the table, but he didn't feel like eating just yet—his head was feeling too heavy. He had somehow woken up at the crack of dawn and couldn't get back to sleep. He had a strange feeling that something had happened last night, but he didn't know what it was. When he became too restless, he decided to go down to breakfast. Sirius sat in the almost empty hall with his elbows propped on the table and his hands on his face, trying to remember what exactly happened the night before. The only thing he was totally sure about was the fact that he had gotten into another fight with Nina and that she probably hated his guts now. He had lost his temper and stormed away and headed straight to Hogsmeade and into Madam Rosemerta's. He couldn't remember how he found his way back to school. _There was someone with me though—I remember. A girl. Who was it? I hope it wasn't who I think it was._ As all these thoughts were passing through his mind, he didn't notice a certain girl come and sit near him at his table.

Nina didn't want to get out of bed so soon, but she knew she had to finish breakfast early so that she could send her letter to Sean. When she got to the Great Hall, she was surprised to see Sirius sitting at a table by himself. She thought he would've slept the whole day through, considering he would probably have a really bad hangover from the night before. Sirius looked like he had fallen asleep; he hadn't moved an inch since she sat down at the table. His face was buried in his hands.

The sound of someone clearing her throat made Sirius look up. Nina was sitting near him and looking right at him, with a slight frown on her face. Sirius frowned back at her, and Nina gave him a tiny smile and turned her face away and started to eat breakfast. _Did she just smile at me or am I imagining things? _Sirius thought. _Shouldn't she be even more pissed off at me now for yelling at her last night? Unless…_

Sirius sat up and started to force some breakfast into him, stealing the odd glance at Nina every now until the others finally joined the table for their breakfast. Nina was about to go and send her letter when the owls came swooping down delivering letters and packages to the students.

Nina was surprised to see her own owl, Archimedes, come and drop a parcel onto her lap. The box was the size of the palm of her hand. She opened it and inside as a crystal rose. There was a little card in it that said "Just because….Love, Sean." _Oh boy_. Nina thought to herself. _That's pretty damn cheesy. I hope my mother didn't see that!_ Because Sean didn't know about her going to Hogwarts, she had made up some excuse and told him that if he ever wanted to send something to her, to send it through her parents. Now that her owl was there, she didn't have to go and send her letter through a school owl. She tied the letter to its leg and it flew off.

"What's that, Nina?" Lily asked looking at the flower.

"Oh…nothing." Nina said stuffing the rose hastily back into the box.

"Ooh, did that come from Sean?" Sara asked excitedly.

"No…my parents." Nina said, which technically, was true.

"Yeah right." said Sara, rolling her eyes. "Nina, you're still so shy that you can't even admit to getting a gift from your fiancé."

"No." Nina said defensively.

"I bet you haven't even kissed him yet, have you?" James piped in.

"What?" Nina could feel her face getting red.

"James!" Lily scolded him. "That's none of your business!"

"Well, I'm just saying…" James started to say before Lily gave him a stern look and he shut up quickly.

Nina got up from her seat before anyone could tease her some more, "I have to go drop this off. I'll see you guys in class. Someone save me a seat." She looked over at Sirius as she walked out and saw that he was trying really hard to suppress a smile. Nina scowled at him and left the hall.

* * *

They had a Muggle Studies assignment due in two days, and they hadn't even started it yet. Nina was feeling really awkward. She and Sirius still hadn't exchanged even one word to each other, and yet they were around each other the whole day. He even sat next to her during dinner. At one point they had both reached for the pitcher of pumpkin juice at the same time, and then they both retreated. Sara started to say something to Nina so she turned her head, and when she looked back, her glass was full of juice. She turned to Sirius, but he was busy talking to James so she didn't say anything to him. 

Sara, Sirius and Nina met in the library later in the evening. They were all quietly working when Sirius looked up and spotted Dana Abbott smiling at him and walking towards their table. _This girl never quits, does she? _Sirius stole a quick glace at Sara and Nina and then looked back up at Dana and gave her a smirk.

Nina and Sara didn't notice Dana's presence until she was right next to Sirius. Sara looked at Dana with a raised eyebrow. Nina didn't look up from her work, but she knew Dana was there. _Does this heifer always have to be in the library when we are? _Dana whispered something in Sirius's ear and he looked a little confused at whatever she was saying, but then he bit his lip and smiled. He whispered something back to her and she giggled and walked away. Sara did not look very amused, and Sirius noticed.

"What?" Sirius asked her.

"Nothing." she said and shook her head slightly muttering something about "boys" and went back to her work. _Damn, maybe I shouldn't have sent Sean that letter_, Nina thought to herself as she flipped through the pages of her book, looking for something. _Where is that stupid outline?_ She looked across and saw it was under Sirius's book. Just as she reached across to take it, Sirius slid it towards him and started to look over it, seemingly concentrating really hard on something. When he was done, he slid it back towards Nina. She was about to reach for it again when he slid it back towards him quickly, read something, and then slid it back again. Nina stared at Sirius, tapping her quill impatiently. He looked at her with an "Oh, did you want this?" expression on his face, and passed the outline to her. They stayed in the library until Madam Pince kicked them out and then headed to the common room to work.

Sara fell asleep on the couch while reading over her notes; they could hear the distinct sound of her snores. Sirius was lying on his back with his head propped up on a cushion. He was holding a book over his head and reading near the fireplace. Nina got up from her seat and walked around him and sat down next to a pile of notes. She leafed through the notes but didn't find the one she was looking for. She looked over Sirius and saw it on the other side of him. She figured she could just reach over him and grab it. She crawled over slowly and just as she stuck her hand across him to pick up the parchment, Sirius, with his book still over his face, grabbed her hand. Startled, Nina looked at him, and he moved his book down from his face slowly. His eyebrows were slightly raised and Nina suddenly felt really awkward being right on top of him with his hand holding hers, but she couldn't move.

"What are you doing?" he asked her quietly.

"I…just wanted these notes." Nina answered him looking embarrassed.

"Why didn't you ask me for them?" he looked at her piercingly.

"I didn't want to disturb you." she replied feeling stupid.

"And you thought straddling over me would be less disturbing?" he said with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"I…I don't know…" Nina was feeling very flustered by then, and she could see that Sirius was trying very hard to keep a straight face.

"No." Sara's voice came out of nowhere; Nina and Sirius froze. "…no peanut butter, Remus." She was only talking in her sleep.

Sirius let go of Nina's hand and she quickly grabbed the notes and retreated back to her spot. Her face felt really hot now. _I'm so stupid! What was I thinking?_ She started to read over the notes, fanning her face every now and then, when she started to feel really tired. She looked at her watch; it was close to two in the morning.

Nina decided to lie down and read for a few minutes. The paper in her hands started to get heavier. She was about to put the paper down when Sirius came next to her and took the paper from her hands and put it on the ground. He took her hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed it. He then put her arm above her head and held her down gently, and kissed her cheek. He looked her in the eyes and then kissed her on the lips. Nina could feel her heart racing.

He kissed her on the cheek again and whispered in her ear, "I don't care what you are, Nina. I still love you." Nina suddenly tensed up and pushed him back and gasped when she saw Sean's face instead of Sirius's.

"Shit!" she said getting up.

"What happened?" came Sirius's voice next to her. She turned her head and saw him lying on his side facing her with a book. She looked in front of her and just saw the side of the couch that Sara was lying on.

Nina ran her hands through her hair and let out a breath. "Nothing…just had a weird dream."

"Was I in it?" he asked curiously.

Nina shook her head and then asked him, "Are you actually getting any work done?"

Sirius sighed and answered, "Not really." He put down his book and stretched. "My head feels a little heavy."

"You still feeling the effects of a hangover?" Nina asked before she realized that she didn't want him to know that she knew he was drunk last night. _Oh shit!  
_

Sirius got up quickly and asked her, "What hangover?"

"Um…well, you went through the common room last night, you know. Everyone sort of knows you were…drinking." Nina said thinking fast.

"Oh." Sirius said quietly. "Wait a second…did I see you last night?"

"You mean after you called me a stupid cow and stormed away?" Nina asked wryly.

"Er…yeah after that." Sirius said with a little embarrassment.

Nina shrugged her shoulders and said, "I dunno. Maybe..."

He came closer to her and asked, "I did, didn't I? I had a feeling that maybe it was you. What did I say?"

"Oh." Nina said gravely. "Too much to repeat"

"No come on, seriously." He pressed her.

"I can't remember everything." Nina told him.

"Well do you remember _something_?" Sirius asked her anxiously.

"Yeah but it was just silly. You didn't know what you were saying. You didn't even really recognize me, actually." Nina said waving him off, and Sirius looked at her unconvincingly.

"Don't worry, Sirius." she told him. "You didn't confess your undying love for me."

"I didn't?" he asked looking a little relieved.

"Nope." Nina said with a smile.

"Okay good. I wouldn't want to be drunk when I do that. Takes away from the moment, doesn't it?" He grinned.

"Mmhmm." Nina opened up her books again.

"So... What would you have done if I _did_ confess my undying love for you last night?" he asked casually.

"Well, I'd pretend I never heard it. And if you asked me about it, I'd lie and say you didn't say anything." Nina said with a grin.

"What?" he exclaimed looking bewildered.

"What the hell's going on here? Why aren't you guys working? I'm trying to sleep!" Sara had gotten up and was looking at them scornfully.

"Maybe you should go upstairs, cranky ass." Nina said to her.

"Can I?" Sara's voice suddenly became gentler.

"I guess." Nina shrugged. "Actually, why don't we just finish the rest tomorrow? I think we'll be okay."

"Great!" Sara said springing up from the couch. "Good night!" She started to head towards the stairs.

"Well, I don't really feel like going to bed." Sirius said. "So I'll stay down for a bit and work some more."

"Oh." Nina said quietly. "Okay I'll stay down too."

"No, go to sleep." Sirius told her.

"No, I can stay for a bit. I'm not that sleepy." Nina said and opened her books.

Sirius shrugged. "Fine."

They worked silently for about ten minutes before Nina felt her bum getting sore from sitting on the ground for so long. She got up and moved to the couch, and a few minutes later, Sirius got up and joined her.

"So…" he started to ask a little hesitantly, "is it true that you really haven't kissed what's-his-name yet?"

"Sean?" Nina asked him.

"Yeah, that guy." Sirius said dismissively.

"Why does everyone care?" Nina asked annoyed.

"I'm just curious, that's all." Sirius replied nonchalantly.

"Gees. What's the big deal? So what if I haven't kissed him yet?" Nina asked him.

"Well, it's just a bit queer of him. I mean, how could he be engaged to you, and not want to kiss you?" Nina looked at him a little strangely and he quickly added, "And vice versa."

"I'm not like you guys okay…going around snogging different people in bloody broom closets every day." she said grumpily.

"Hey! I don't do that every day." he said indignantly.

Nina raised her eyebrow at him.

"Okay well at least not this year, I haven't. In fact, I haven't even kissed anyone since…um…" Sirius looked puzzled. "Hmm…I can't even remember."

"Well, there's a record." Nina said sarcastically.

"It is." he said seriously. _Man, I'm turning soft. I gotta get me some action! Wait…what about Nina? What about her? Man, she is **engaged**. Get that through your thick skull! She's got someone. You can go and get someone too! Wait… But, she hasn't even kissed him yet. So? So what if…_

"I'm knackered. I think I'm gonna head to bed now." Nina said gathering her things. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay, good night." Sirius said distractedly.

* * *

Nina woke up the next morning feeling groggy. She didn't sleep well; she kept having reoccurring dreams about Sirius and Sean both trying to kiss her. She trudged her way down to breakfast with Lily and Sara. Nina was halfway through eating her cereal, when the daily swoop of owls came through the hall. To Nina's apprehension, she saw Archimedes fly over her head and drop a thin envelope onto her lap. She looked at the messy scrawl written on the top and realized it was from Sean. She could feel her heart start to race suddenly and she felt a little shaky. _Crap! He wrote back quickly. I can't open it here. I gotta go back up to the dorm! _She took her stuff and told her friends she would meet up with them in class. She walked out of the Great Hall as fast as she could and then ran all the way back up to the dorms. She closed the door and sat on her bed. Her hands were trembling as she opened the envelope. The note was short and to the point. It read: 

_Nina,  
I don't know what to say. I'm really shocked at the moment. I don't know if you're playing a cruel joke on me or if I'm just going crazy. I can't believe you didn't tell me about this before—or that your parents tried to hide this from me. Actually, I can't really believe anything right now. I don't want to. Whatever the case is, I'm just assuming that you don't want to be with me and that's why you told me this. If what you've told me is somehow true, then I guess that would really be the end for us. I don't know if my family or I would be able to handle your…problem. I'm sorry about the way things have turned out.  
Sean.  
P.S. Can you please send me back my ring? And don't use that blasted owl. It nearly gave me a heart attack last time._

Nina put down the letter, her hands still trembling a little. _So. It's over. He couldn't handle the truth after all. He called it my_ _**problem**_._ He probably thinks I'm some kind of freak! What if he tells everyone? My sister! What if I've ruined things for her? Oh, my parents are going to murder me good. They are not going to let me come home. I'll be homeless. I'll have to work on the streets for money! What the hell am I going to do? Stupid Sean! I hate him! He ruined everything! My parents wouldn't even have even bothered me if he didn't propose in the first place! I never even liked him that much! And what kind of a stupid dry letter did he write? He sounded almost bored. Just how many girls has he proposed to before? "I'm really shocked at the moment." My ass! He didn't even seem like he cared! He never really cared for me, did he? No wonder he never kissed me! Sirius was right—he is queer! Why the hell did he want to marry me then? Was it for the money? My parents are well off…but it's not like he was going to get any of it! That bastard! And how dare he insult Archimedes like that! I'll be damned if I send the ring back any other way. I hope he really **does** give him a heart attack this time!_ Nina violently took off her ring and shoved it into an envelope.

As soon as the initial shock wore off, Nina started to feel very depressed. She looked at her now bare hand and tears started brimming her eyes. The next thing she knew, she had flung herself onto her pillow and started balling. She cried until her eyes were dry and then stayed in her bed looking up at the ceiling for a while. Her brain felt numb. Then, another thought crossed her mind. _Sirius. I need to talk to him. I have to tell him…no, wait. I can't tell him how I feel. But, I **can **tell him that it's over with Sean. I don't know what that's going to do…but at least I'll feel better…I think.  
_

She looked at her watch; she missed her first class and the second one was starting in about twenty minutes. She forced herself up and into the washroom. She washed her face and put some make up on. _Okay,_ she thought to herself while fixing her hair. _I look alright. Doesn't seem like I was crying. _She took a deep breath and walked out of her dorm and headed to class. She saw Sara and Lily standing outside the door. Nina could already feel her heart swell and the tears starting to come to her eyes_. No! Don't cry here, stupid!_ Nina started blinking her eyes furiously.

Lily and Sara came up to her and Lily asked with concern, "Hey. Where were you? What's wrong? Is everything okay"

"Oh, yeah." Nina said trying to smile. "Just these bloody allergies. They are driving me nuts. My eyes keep watering up like crazy." She sniffed. _Good one!  
_

"Ooh, that stinks!" Sara said sympathetically. "Your eyes are really watering. You should take something for it."

"Oh, yeah I did." Nina lied. "It'll be okay soon." She couldn't concentrate on anything said during any of her classes that day. Her mind kept wondering off from thinking about how much she despised Sean and how her family was going to disown her, to how she was going to tell Sirius that her engagement was now off.

"Hey, where's your ring?" Sara asked Nina during dinner at the Great Hall.

"What?" Nina asked distractedly. "Oh, I must've forgotten it upstairs. Hey, where's Sirius?"

"Oh…" James said looking around the hall and then shrugged, "I dunno. He was with us a while ago." After they finished eating, they all headed back to the common room. Nina was dying to talk to Sirius and she felt anxious all over. She kept looking out for him, hoping he'd pop into the room. She waited around not paying much attention to anyone else around her for about an hour before she decided she was going to go out and walk around the castle—and maybe bump into Sirius.

She walked through the library, the Great Hall, and was making her way down another hall when she heard voices coming from up ahead. She stopped and listened. She didn't hear anything so she kept walking, past a large panel divider—and then she let out a gasp. There was Sirius, up against the panel, with Dana Abbott, all over him.

* * *

A/N: Stupid, stupid Siriuis. Hahaha! That chapter was too much fun to write. Hope you guys liked it! Tell me what you think! Thank you so much for all the reviews! 


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 20

"Oh shit!" Nina exclaimed as Sirius and Dana turned to her. Sirius quickly pushed Dana away from him, looking completely stunned and Dana looking thoroughly annoyed.

"I'm sorry…I didn't…" Nina stuttered, looking away from them, "I was just looking for…someone. I didn't know anyone was here…" Her voice trailed off and she quickly turned around. _Shit! Crap, crap, crap!_ Nina thought as she speedily walked away from the hallway and headed towards the common room. Her heart was pounding and her face felt like it was on fire. She was too stunned to feel any emotion except for embarrassment at that moment. She didn't know where she was going. All she knew was that she wanted to get the hell away from Sirius and Dana Abbott. She kept walking until she spotted the girls' washroom up ahead.

She ran inside and stood by the sink, trying to catch her breath. Her chest felt heavy and her throat felt dry. She could feel tears prickling her eyes again but she blinked them back. _No, I'm not going to cry over this. Don't be stupid, you've cried enough for one day. Have some dignity!  
_

When her eyes were dry again and she could breathe normally again, Nina thought to herself, _now where do I go?_ She exited the washroom and started to walk aimlessly around the castle. _I can't go to the common room—Sirius might be there. I can't face him right now; I'm too embarrassed. I must've looked so stupid! I don't know why it was such a shock to me. I knew deep down inside that eventually he was going to be with somebody. Why wouldn't he? He has every right to be. In fact, I'm surprised this is the first time I caught him. It's all just bad timing and bad luck. I had to catch him the very day that I break up with Sean—so coincidental. Anyways, I don't know what I was thinking when I was looking for him in the first place._ Nina shuddered just thinking about what she saw behind the panel. _Ugh. I'm so grossed out; I don't even think I like him anymore._ Nina looked down at her watch. It was past midnight and almost everyone would be in bed by now. She walked to Gryffindor Tower and went through the portrait hole. Nina let out a sigh of relief when she walked through the empty common room and headed up the stairs to her dorm. When she entered the room, she saw Lily and Sara sitting in their beds reading.

"Hey, where have you been?" Lily said looking up from her book. "We were starting to get worried about you."

"Oh, I was just walking around." Nina said casually.

"Were you with Sirius?" Sara asked.

"No." Nina replied.

"Oh ok." Sara said. "Both of you guys weren't down with us so we all thought maybe you were…hanging out."

"He must've been hanging out with someone else." Nina said curtly.

"Something wrong?" Lily asked her. "You seem a bit put off or something."

"Well…yeah I guess." Nina shrugged. She sat down on the edge of her bed and breathed out slowly."I…broke up with Sean today."

"What?" Sara exclaimed jumping out of her bed. "Oh my goodness! Why? What happened?"

Nina sighed running her hands through her hair. "I dunno. I told him the truth about me. I sent him a letter a telling him everything. And then today he wrote back." She reached for her trunk and pulled out his letter and showed it to her friends.

They read through it and when they were done, Lily exclaimed, "What an asshole! I can't believe he wrote this!"

"So this is what your allergies were about today." Sara said and then added, "But you said he was such a nice guy."

"Yeah I thought he was. But, then again, I didn't really know him that well, did I?" Nina responded.

"Are you going to be okay?" Lily asked her with concern. "You seem to be taking it pretty well."

"Well, I had a good cry about it earlier. I don't feel like crying any more. I'm tired of it. I guess I just feel indifferent now. Plus, it's not like there was anything really special between us." Nina explained to her friends.

"Yeah, that's true, Nina." Sara agreed with her. "You hadn't even kissed him yet."

"Why does everyone insist on reminding me of that?" Nina said dryly.

"Anyways, it's his loss." Lily said and then added, "So what are your parents going to say?"

Nina shrugged again. "I don't care so much at this point. I'll worry about it when the time comes."

The girls sat quietly for a moment before Nina added, "Hey listen, can you guys just keep this between us for now?"

"Okay…" Sara replied.

"Sure, no problem." Lily added.

"Thanks. You know, I was planning on telling Sirius what happened tonight." Nina said getting up from her bed and towards her closet.

"Really?" Sara asked curiously.

"Yeah, because I know if I didn't tell him, he'd get all moody and stuff. You know how he gets like that with me. Constantly arguing. I wanted to avoid him saying some stupid remark in front of everyone so I wanted to tell him alone." Nina said while changing into her pyjamas.

"Yeah, I always found that interesting actually now that you mention it." Lily said.

"What do you mean?" Nina asked her looking confused.

"I think Lily means, that we think Sirius likes you." Sara said with a grin.

"Ha! That's a good one." Nina said sarcastically and then added. "I know for sure he doesn't."

"How do you know? It's pretty obvious to the rest of us, you know." Sara retorted as Nina shook her head.

"Did you guys talk about it or something?" Lily asked her.

"No, but um…well, when I went outside tonight, I caught him with Dana Abbott." Nina said.

"What? That stupid cow?" Sara said angrily.

"Boys." Lily muttered shaking her head.

* * *

Sirius was frustrated. _Ugh. I hate myself._ He buried his face into his hands again for a second and then looked up and said out loud. "I don't even like Dana! What the hell was I doing?" He had met Dana right before dinner. She said she needed some help with her Charms assignment, and Sirius obviously knew that she didn't really need help. He didn't know why exactly he decided to go with her, but he did.

Walking towards the common room, he kept replaying in his mind what had happened that evening. They had found an empty classroom and Dana began to flirt with Sirius, but he just wasn't into her at all. He didn't even really want to be there, so he told her that he was a little hungry and wanted to go to dinner. She said that she would join him, and they proceeded to walk towards the Great Hall when she suddenly remembered she had to get a book from the library. She asked Sirius to come with her and by the time they were done, dinner was over and Sirius was really hungry.

Sirius figured he would go to the kitchens to eat, and she volunteered to come with him again. They were walking down a hall heading to the kitchens when Dana suddenly grabbed Sirius by surprise and thrust him against the panel wall. A part of Sirius wanted to push her off of him, and another part of him was a little exhilarated; it had been a while since he was with a girl like this. When he closed his eyes all he could see was Nina. He started thinking what it would be like if it was Nina with him at that moment, instead of Dana.

He opened his eyes and froze. Standing right in front of him was Nina herself. He tensed up and pushed Dana away from him. Nina looked shocked and embarrassed to be there. She muttered an apology saying she didn't know anyone was there, and left. He couldn't move. He felt guilty for some reason, even though he knew he wasn't really doing anything wrong. _After all, it's not like I was cheating on her or anything. So why did I feel so stupid?_ He remembered making up some excuse to Dana saying that he wasn't feeling so well and leaving her.

He started walking around the castle, unsure of where to go. He was dreading bumping into Nina again; he didn't know what to tell her. _But what do I have to tell her? I don't have to justify myself to her! Why am I feeling so guilty? This isn't fair! She's engaged! Why would she care if I were with another girl? Why do **I **care? _A voice inside his head answered his question. _You care because you love her. You still hold on to some pathetic hope that one day, she will realize this and tell you that she loves you too. Never mind the fact that she has a bloody fiancé. You're so crazy about her that you still cling on to this hope knowing deep down inside that if she really did have any type of feelings for you; she would have never gotten engaged in the first place. So stop dwelling over her! You'll never get anyone if you keep thinking about her. It's your own fault anyways, you should've told her how you felt when you had the chance. But,_ Sirius argued with the voice, _how could I tell her if I didn't know how she felt about me? If she didn't feel the same way, she would've started to treat me differently, and I didn't want that to happen. It was too risky. I thought I would buy some time and try to find out more about her feelings after the winter break. How the hell was I supposed to know she'd go and get engaged?  
_

"Hey there you are, mate." James said as Sirius found his way into the dorm. "We were wondering where you went off to."

"I was just walking about." Sirius shrugged.

"Were you with Nina?" Remus asked him.

"Nina? No, I wasn't with her. Why?" he asked Remus back.

"Oh, nothing." Remus replied casually. "You two were missing so we thought maybe you'd be together."

"Yeah, right. What would I be doing with her at this time of night? She _is_ engaged, you know." Sirius said a little grumpily.

"Yes, we weren't thinking anything like _that,_ Padfoot." James responded.

"Yeah, get your mind out of the gutter." Remus added. Sirius ignored them and went into the washroom and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

Nina was ready to head down to breakfast when Sara and Lily woke up the next morning.

"You're up early." Lily said groggily.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep much." Nina said.

"You okay?" she asked her.

"Actually," Nina began, "I feel good. Like a load taken off my back."

"That's good." Lily said.

"Yeah." Nina smiled. "I'm gonna head down. I'll see you guys soon."

Sirius was sitting alone at a table, looking extremely tired and put out. Nina walked through the Great Hall and saw him. She hesitated for a moment, but then decided to go and sit with him. She wanted to make sure he thought that she didn't feel any embarrassment or resentment about what happened the night before. After all, they were supposed to be friends. If he really wanted to be with Dana, she would have to support him--or at least let him think that she did. At this point, his friendship meant more to her than anything else, and she didn't want anything to come between them again. She plopped herself next to him, dropping her books loudly onto the table. Sirius turned his head towards her and frowned.

"'Morning." Nina said to him cheerfully. His frown deepened. _Why are you so happy? I wish I could be happy too._

"Whoa." she said. "You look tired today."

"Do I." he said scratching his head.

"Yeah. Didn't get much sleep last night, eh?" she asked him.

"Not really." He rested his head on his arm on the table and looked at her. _Look at her. She doesn't even care about what happened last night. It's all just jokes for her. Why was I feeling so damn guilty last night? I'm a fool. _

"Interesting." she said taking some juice.

"Is it." se said and frowned at her again. "Why are you in such a chipper mood?"

Nina shrugged and then looked up and said with a sly smile, "Oh look. It's your little friend."

"Who? Oh shit!" Sirius said looking up and spotting Dana sauntering down the hall.

"Sirius!" Dana waved at him.

"Oh, hi." Sirius said forcing a smile.

"Hey!" she said breathily as she ran her fingers through his hair. "How are you feeling today?"

"Um…a little better." Sirius felt very uncomfortable. He looked at Nina but she was buried in a book.

"Are you sure? You really worried me last night." Dana looked at Nina sitting next to Sirius and she made a suspicious face at her.

"Can I sit with you?" she asked him.

"Sure, I guess." Sirius replied. Dana didn't move. She just cleared her throat and waited expectantly.

Sirius looked up at her and she was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. He looked confused and she turned her eyes towards Nina. Sirius looked at Nina; she was flipping through her potions book making some notes. He looked back at Dana who was still glaring at Nina. _Does she want me to ask Nina to move for her? _He thought to himself just as Remus and James came through and sat across from Nina and Sirius, leaving no space for Dana to sit near him now.

Dana looked annoyed but said, "It's okay I have to go now anyways, so maybe we can hang out again tonight."

"Oh…uh…actually we've got…Quidditch practice tonight." Sirius told her. "So I'm going to be busy."

"Well your practice isn't going to last all night, is it?" she asked him exasperatedly.

"Of course not! It's only for a couple of hours." James chipped in, much to Sirius's annoyance.

"Are you sure, James? I'm pretty sure we were supposed to schedule an _all-nighter_?" Sirius said to him sternly.

"Don't be ridiculous. There's no such thing as all-night Quidditch practices!" James laughed.

"That's strange." Sirius said through gritted teeth. "I could've sworn you said that last night while you were reading those girly magazines and complaining about how fat your ass is."

"No, you were the one complaining about your ass while you were trying on women's underwear." James said back Remus started coughing up his pumpkin juice.

Dana looked a little confused and said, "Okay, I'll just come and look for you later. Bye." When she walked away, Nina, Remus and James burst out laughing.

"What are _you_ laughing at?" Sirius turned to Nina.

"Nothing." Nina said after clearing her throat and then muttered, "Crabby ass."

"I heard that." he snapped.

"You were supposed to." Nina said closing her books. "So what happened to you last night?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked her.

"Why'd Dana ask you how you were feeling?"

"Oh. Well, I was just trying to get rid of her, so I just made something up. Said I wasn't feeling good." Sirius said quickly.

"That's really rude. If you didn't like her in the first place why'd you lead her on?" Nina asked him.

"That's none of your business." he retorted.

Nina looked at him, offended.

"Well it's not…" he began to say in an agitated but defensive tone.

"Okay I get the point." she interrupted him. "Don't get all cranky."

"I am not being cranky!" he said crankily.

"Shh!" Nina said punching his arm. "I was in a good mood. Don't ruin it." By then Sara and Lily had joined their table. Nina was talking to Sara next to her when a sixth year girl came up to Sirius and started chatting him up. Nina heard Sirius tell her that he'd meet up with her later that night. _How does this guy go from being so cranky to a big stupid flirt so quickly?_

Nina turned to Sirius shook her head and said, "Man, you are such a ho."

"Aah, whatever." he said waving her off. "You're just jealous."

"That you're a ho and I'm not?" she asked him.

"No." he answered. "That I'm single and free and can do whatever I want."

Sara and Lily shot a look at Nina and she rolled her eyes, "Yeah that must be it."

"Hey, Sara!" Came a squeaky voice from behind that Nina hadn't heard in a long time.

"Hey." Sara said to her little sister and she came bouncing towards their table.

"Hey, Nina!" Leena beamed at her. "Can I see your ring?"

"Oh," Nina said taking out her hand hesitantly. "I don't have it."

"Oh." She seemed disappointed. "Do you have a picture of Sean? I wanna see what he looks like."

"Leena, stop being so nosey." Sara scolded her. "She doesn't have any pictures, okay?"

"I was just wondering, gosh." Leena said offended.

"Well don't wonder so much." Sara told her. Leena frowned at her sister and stormed away sullenly.

"Why were you so mean to her?" Remus asked Sara.

"You stop being nosey, too." she scolded him. Remus raised his eyebrows at her. He looked at everyone else at the table and saw that they all looked a little confused as well. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to his breakfast.

"Thanks for being so inconspicuous." Nina whispered sarcastically to Sara. The morning owls came swooping through the Hall just then and Nina saw hers coming towards her and dropping something onto her lap.

"Oh great. A letter from my mother; there goes my good mood." _Did that asshole already tell my mother that we broke up? _She opened the letter and perused it briefly and then folded it back up. "I don't feel like reading this right now. I'm going to class. You all coming?" Sara and Lily got up and left with Nina.

As soon as they were gone, Sirius looked down and noticed a folded piece of parchment on the ground. It was Nina's letter from her mother. He bent down and picked it up.

"What's that?" Remus asked him.

"A letter." Sirius replied. "I think Nina dropped it on her way out. I'll give it to her in class." He slipped it in one of his books and forgot about it. Throughout the day Sirius kept noticing that Nina looked very distant. When no one was talking to her she looked thoughtful and a little stressed out. Sirius caught her rubbing her forehead every five minutes, but as soon as someone talked to her, she'd look cheerful and happy. _It seems like she's trying too hard to act cheerful. She's hiding something—I know it. Wait a minute…is it because of last night? Maybe she's upset about Dana and me and she's trying to hide it,_ Sirius thought happily.

* * *

Sirius and James went up to their dorm to shower after their Quidditch practice. James was in the shower and Sirius had just finished changing his clothes and was about to head downstairs when he saw the letter sticking out from one of his books. He pulled it out, thinking that he would give it to Nina when he went downstairs. One of the flaps bent up and he was folding it down when a couple of words caught his eye.

He looked around the room and listened to see if James was still in the shower. _What are you doing? You can't read her letter. That is just wrong_. Sirius held the letter in his hand for a moment. _I'm not going to read it…I'll just skim through it…_He was a fast reader anyways, so his skimming really was reading. He read through the whole letter, his heart beating fast.

He sat down and folded up the letter quickly. A million thoughts were buzzing through his head._ She broke up with Sean. That's why she's acting strange. Whoa, her parents are pissed off. But, she's not engaged anymore! Wait a minute…why didn't she tell me?_ Sirius felt happy, scared, and a little angry all at the same time. He took the letter and headed downstairs. He found Nina sitting alone on a couch next to the fireplace. He came and he sat down next to her.

"Hey." she smiled at him. "How was practice?"

"It was good." he said quietly. He felt nervous as he took out the letter from his pocket, "Listen, um…you dropped this in the morning. I forgot to give it to you in class."

"Oh, thanks." she took the letter from him. Sirius was avoiding her eye and he looked a little anxious about something. "Something wrong?" Nina asked him.

"What? Oh…no." he said, glancing at her twitchily and then he asked her, "So…what's up?"

"Nothing much.' Nina said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh okay." he said. "So nothing new or interesting happening in your life these days, eh?"

Nina turned to him and said piercingly, "Did you read my letter, Sirius?"

"No, of course not." he said avoiding her eye.

"You did, didn't you?" Nina asked him.

"No." he said nervously, still not meeting her eye.

"You're a terrible liar." Nina said flatly.

"Well I'd rather be a terrible one than a big fat one!" Sirius exclaimed defensively.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I don't lie!" Nina said indignantly while getting up from the couch.

"Oh please! Give me a break! You never tell me anything!" Sirius exclaimed loudly getting up as well. "I'm always the last person to find out anything." James, Remus, Sara and Lily entered the common room just then to find Nina and Sirius yelling at each other.

"So how is that lying?" Nina asked him.

"So you admit it then. You do hide stuff from me!" he yelled.

"Holy crap! What is wrong with you? This is why I don't tell you anything! Because you get all crazy and fight with me! I can't tell you anything without worrying about how you're going to freak out!" Nina yelled back.

"I don't freak out at you!" Sirius said, freaking out.

"Okay, don't even start. I have all these guys as my witnesses." Nina pointed to her other friends and said to them, "I told you guys, last night, remember? I told you he'd find some excuse to get pissed off again."

"See! You always tell everyone everything before you tell me!"

"Oh, and I'm so sure you tell _me_ everything! This is just stupid. Listen, if you must know, I was going to tell you first last night, but you were too busy snogging Dana Abbott."

"Okay wait," Sirius said calming down a little, "I wasn't snogging her, she was the one who--"

"I don't wanna hear about whatever happened." she interrupted. "You can go snog whoever the hell you want to. It doesn't make a difference to me. I don't care!"

"That's my whole bloody point! Why the hell don't you?" Sirius questioned her.

"What do you mean? Why would I?" Nina asked him back, confused.

"Because if you did I'd at least know if…" His voice trailed off a little.

"Know what? You're not making any sense!"said Nina in frustration.

Sirius looked around the room, realizing that everyone in the common room had stopped whatever they were doing and was listening to their argument.

"Never mind. You're too stupid. I gotta go out." Sirius said in a low voice. He turned around and started walking towards the portrait hole.

"Yeah, you better go!" Nina yelled after him. "I'm sure _Dana_ is waiting for you somewhere!" She turned to the rest of her friends. "What are you all gaping about?"

She spotted the letter from her mother on the floor, she bent down and crumpled it up and threw it angrily into the fireplace.

* * *

A/N: Well, this is it. One more chapter to go! I hope you guys liked this one! Last chapter should be up on Monday. I want to add a bit more to it before I post it up. Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry I couldn't reply to them all this time. Please let me know how this chapter turned out! 


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 21

Nina stormed out of the common room, absolutely fuming. She walked down the dark abandoned corridor aimlessly until she stopped, suddenly feeling very alone and scared. _Oh crap. What am I doing? I don't want to fight with him again. I'm really getting tired of it. We only have a couple of months left in school; nobody knows what's going to happen after that. This is really stupid. I'm not even sure about what I'm so angry about. So what if he read my letter. I would've shown it to him myself anyways. Maybe I'm still upset about the whole Dana thing._ Nina walked around the castle looking for him, but she couldn't find Sirius anywhere.

Sirius had left the common room and was heading straight out of the castle when he changed his mind. _What am I doing? She just broke up with her fiancé. She's probably upset. I should've been trying to make her feel better. I mean, her family has practically disowned her, just like mine did. I should've told her that I could take care of her and that she didn't have to worry about being on her own. Instead, I just started another fight with her. I probably sounded really selfish. Oh, man. She's going to hate me even more now. I should go back and apologize to her. I hate fighting with her anyways._

Sirius went back into the common room and found Sara, Lily, Remus, and James sitting around the fireplace.

"Hey, where's Nina?" he asked them.

"She left." Sara said.

"Where'd she go?" he inquired.

"Dunno…she just walked out." Lily shrugged.

"Oh…okay." Sirius said and left the common room to search for her.

Several minutes later, Nina walked into the common room.

"Hey, Nina!" James called out. "Sirius was just here looking for you."

"He was?" Nina asked him.

"Yeah." James replied.

"Where is he?" she asked again.

"I dunno. He just went back out." he answered.

Nina went back outside and started walking through the dark halls. She started to hear noises all around her. It suddenly hit her how creepy the corridors were at night and began to wonder if maybe she should just head back to the common room. She heard footsteps. _Crap. What if it's a professor? Or Filch? I'll get caught being out after hours._ She was about to turn around when she saw a big black dog come bolting down the hallway. Nina let out a shriek. She hated dogs. She ran into the nearest empty classroom she could find, and to her horror, the dog followed her in.

"Oh my God," she said to herself and then she turned to the dog and pleaded, "Can you please go away? Shoo!" She tried to wave off the dog, but it didn't move. Nina could hear the footsteps in the hallway getting closer. The dog moved closer to her, making her move further into a dark corner of the room. She didn't know if she'd rather get caught by whoever was outside, or get eaten by the dog. _Okay don't be stupid. He's not going to eat you._ The dog completely cornered Nina and she just knew he was going to attack her any second now. She closed her eyes and prayed the dog would just go away. When she didn't feel anything after a few moments, she opened her eyes and found the dog just sitting in front of her, staring at her.

"Okay. That's good. You don't want to bite me…yet." she said out loud. The dog still sat there, looking at her intently.

She started talking to the dog again, "I know you must be really enjoying this, but I really need to go. So if you can just move out of my way—" Nina as about to step forward when he stood up.

Nina stepped back again. "Okay, okay, I'm not moving." _Why isn't he letting me go?_ That's when Nina heard the footsteps outside the hall again.

"Oh, there's still someone out there." she said to herself. "Hmm…is this ugly dog trying to protect me or something?" As if the dog could understand what she was saying, the mention of the words ugly dog, made him pout.

Nina looked surprised. "Oh, sorry. No, you're not really that ugly. I just don't like dogs. So I think all dogs are ugly." The dog's pout didn't seem to go away. "I must look really ridiculous. I'm trying to reason with a dog." Nina tried to move away from the corner again, but the dog growled quietly.

"Alright. I'm not going anywhere." She slumped down onto the ground._ I don't think he's going to hurt me._ The dog moved a little closer to her.

"Stop," she held out her hand to the dog and he sat down, "that's close enough. So what am I supposed to do here? Wait until you let me go? Man, I'm going to kill Sirius. This is all his fault."

The dog looked up at Nina curiously and she started to explain the situation, more to herself than the dog. "The stupid jerk just had to blow up at me again, as usual. I'm getting really tired of it. I mean, I never used to fight with anyone. Then, all of a sudden, after the winter break, he just became some kind of angry mental fool. But he's only like that with me. I don't get it." The dog moved a little closer to Nina. "Maybe it's just me. I probably annoy him or something." Nina let out a sad sigh.

"Well that really sucks. I wish I could be more like Sara sometimes. She's so open and she doesn't care about what people think. I really wish I could tell Sirius how I really feel about him." The dog suddenly shot his head up and looked right at Nina.

"What?" she asked him. The dog put his head back down and moved a little closer to her. "Anyways, there's no way I could ever tell him. It's way too embarrassing. He'd probably never talk to me again." Nina had the sudden urge to pet the dog. She hesitated for a moment, and then started to pet his head. "I've never petted a dog before you know that? You look clean enough I guess. Anyways, what was I saying? Oh yeah. Sirius. You know, I don't even know why I got engaged this winter. Actually, that's a lie. I do know. I guess I was so sure that Sirius would never like me the way I liked him, so I just wanted to forget about him and move on. Well it obviously didn't work. I just got more depressed. And now that I finally broke up with Sean, Sirius is going off snogging other stupid girls. That's probably where he is right now. Stupid jerk. Oh well. It's not his fault. I'm the mental case who had to fall for the most sought after guy in the whole damn school. I hate that. I feel like Dana Abbott or something. I wish he was ugly. You know, I always found him intmidatingly good-looking. I could never talk to him before. He just had this "I'm too cool, don't talk to me if you're not" aura around him. But then when I really got to know him, I started to really like him...beyond his ridiculously good looks. So even if he wasn't so handsome, I probably would've ended up liking him anyways. Ugh. And why is it that guys always go for the biggest bimbo they can find? There are so many other pretty girls that have brains. Guys are so weird."

Nina looked down at the dog. "You seem pretty comfortable. Are you gonna let me go now? It's pretty late…I need to get back to the common room." The dog looked around, as if trying to listen for something, and then scampered quickly out of the room.

Nina got up and dusted off her clothes. _I can't believe I just sat here for so long talking to a dog._ She looked out of the classroom, making sure no one was there, and started to walk towards the common room.

As soon as Nina got to the portrait hole, she saw Sirius standing by it, as if he waiting for her. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest, and had a slight frown on his face.

"Where've you been?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she asked him back.

"I've been looking everywhere for you." he told her.

"Oh…yeah I was looking for you too." she said.

"Mmhmm." He looked at her sceptically. "So, is there something you want to say to me?"

"Shouldn't you be saying something to _me_?" she asked him.

"Like what?"

"I dunno…like an apology maybe." she said with her arms crossed.

"For what?" he asked her almost indignantly.

"Don't be a jerk." she said. "You know what for."

"Fine." he sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have read your letter and I really shouldn't have gotten mad at you like that. There. Are you happy now?"

"I guess." Nina shrugged.

"So." he said with a sly smile. "Is there anything _you_ want to say to _me_?"

"Um…" she thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so."

"Are you sure?" he asked her pressingly.

"Yeah…why?" she asked a little confused.

"No reason." he replied quickly. "So, we're cool then?" He stuck his hand out.

"Yeah." She took his hand and shook it. _Finally_, she thought as she made her way up to the dorm. _We're friends again. I feel so relieved. I am never going to fight with him again_.

* * *

"I haven't seen Sirius look so happy in a long time." Lily said at the table during breakfast the next morning.

"Yeah." Sara looked curiously at Nina.

"Don't look at me." Nina said to her. "I don't know what's going on."

"So Sirius," Sara called over to him from across the table, "what's gotten you into such a good mood?"

"Yeah, he's been happy ever since last night." Remus added.

"Ooh, something happened last night, eh?" Sara said excitedly.

"Wait, I thought you were with Nina last night." James said.

"No, he wasn't." Nina interjected before anyone got any ideas into their twisted minds. "I only saw him for like two minutes before I went to bed. And he didn't look like he was in _that_ great of a mood."

"Oh, I think I was in a pretty good mood." Sirius smiled mischievously.

"Hmm." Nina said frowning slightly. "Well I dunno what happened before he met me."

"So were you with a girl?" Sara kept egging him on.

"Maybe." Sirius shrugged.

"Oh! You guys know what happened to me last night?" Nina asked suddenly remembering the dog. "I was looking for this retard," she said pointing at Sirius, "when this big ugly black dog just came out of nowhere and chased me into this empty classroom." Remus and James both nearly choked on their food. Nina looked up at Sirius, who was trying really hard not to laugh.

"It wasn't funny! I hate dogs! They freak me out!" Nina exclaimed.

"Hey! Not all dogs are bad." Sirius said defensively.

"Yeah I know." Nina continued on. "This one turned out to be not so...disgusting. It was weird though. I think it could understand what I was saying to it."

"You were talking to the dog?" Sirius looked at her like she was crazy.

"Er…well, never mind." Nina said suddenly feeling really stupid. "It's a long story."

"What did you say to it, Nina?" Remus suddenly asked her.

"Nothing important." Nina said cautiously.

Remus looked intently at Nina with a slight smile, "Are you sure?"

"I think so. Why?" Nina began to feel a little uncomfortable.

"No reason." he said and everyone continued eating their breakfast until the morning wave of owls came swooping into the Great Hall. A tawny brown owl dropped a letter onto Sirius's lap and flew away. He opened the letter and his already brightened face became illuminous.

"Oh damn!" he exclaimed with excitement. "Can this day get any better?"

"What happened?" James asked him as they all got up to head to their classes.

"Well, it looks like my Uncle Alphard left me a crap load of gold!" said Sirius happily while putting the letter away.

* * *

Nina and Sara were to meet Sirius in the library later during the day. Nina was waiting for both of them when Sirius came towards her.

"Hey." he said coming close to her and flicked her hair back. "Your hair smells nice."

"Oh. Thanks." Nina said uneasily, not sure of what he just did. They walked to an empty table and sat down next to each other.

"Where's Sara?" he asked her.

Nina shrugged. "She should be here soon."

"Hmm. So until then it's just me and you, eh?" he said with a cocky smile.

"I guess so." Nina said taking out her books.

Sirius moved his seat closer to her. "You know, you look really pretty today."

Nina gave him a quizzical smile, "Don't think flattery is going to get you out of doing any work, Sirius."

"What do you mean? I'm not trying to get out of anything. I'm being totally serious." he said earnestly.

"Right." said Nina disbelievingly.

"No, I'm really not kidding." he said and then asked with a quizzical grin, "Did I ever tell you how I had a crush on you in first year?"

"What?" said Nina with surprise.

"Yeah, I remember you used to sit in front of me in Transfiguration class and I used to just stare at the back of you head. You wore part of your hair in a clip. I always wanted to touch your hair. I think I even tried to a couple of times but you always turned around and scowled at me." Sirius reminisced.

"Oh my God." Nina exclaimed. "I remember that! I thought you were trying to pull my hair to bug me. I remember turning around and you always had this stupid grin on your face so I thought you were really irritating."

"No, that was supposed to be my super sexy smile that should've melted your heart." Sirius sighed. "Guess it didn't work."

"That is so funny." said Nina, grinning.

"Not really." Sirius frowned. "I had to give up on you after I realized that you didn't like me."

"How sad." Nina said, still smiling.

"Yeah," said Sirius, and then added with a smug look, leaning back into his chair, "But, by then I had all these chicks after me so I guess I got over you pretty quickly."

"I'm sure you did." Nina said as Sara finally joined them at their table in the library.

* * *

Throughout the whole time they were working together, Nina noticed that Sirius was behaving very oddly. Every five minutes, she saw that his chair was a few inches closer to hers, and every time he reached out to get a book or some notes from the table, he'd brush against her. When he wanted to say something to her, he wouldn't just start talking, but he'd touch her arm first to get her attention. At one point, Nina was about to get up from her chair to go and find a book when Sirius put his hand on her thigh and told her that he'd go and get it. Nina couldn't remember if he was always so physical with her.

Sirius's awkward behaviour didn't end at the library. During potions, Nina was standing behind her chair taking out her book from her bag. Sirius needed to get by her so he put his hands around her waist and moved by. He sat a few places away from her, facing her. Every time she looked in his direction, he was staring at her. She'd stare back with her eyebrows creased and he'd smile and look away. When she was still mixing a potion that he had already finished, he walked up behind her and moved her hair back away from the potion telling her not to burn her hair. Even during dinner, Sirius sat himself right next to her and found any excuse to move close to her or touch her. Nina decided to just ignore it. She didn't want to start anything up with him again. And besides, she had to admit to herself that she didn't exactly mind it _too_ much.

Later that night Nina was in the common room reading a book when she heard a familiar voice singing behind her, "_If I can't have youuu, I don't want nobody, baby. Girl, it's got to be youuu, I don't need no substitute, I need the real thing."_

She tried not to laugh and looked behind her with a smile.

"What're you doin'?" said Sirius with what Nina now thought was definitely a super sexy smile.

"Reading." Nina replied as Sirius came around and plopped himself next to her.

"_Pride and Prejudice_?" He read as he snatched the book out of her hands. "What's this? A muggle book?"

"Yes." Nina said trying to grab it from him. "Can I have it back please?"

Sirius started to read a passage from the book. "Wow, how can you read this?"

He laughed and then closed it and tossed it back at her.

"Shut up. It's good." Nina said putting the book aside.

"I'm sure it is. So listen," Sirius said putting his arm around her, "I need some advice."

"About what?" Nina asked, aware of his arm around her. _There he goes again with the touchiness. How long is this going to last? I think I might go crazy...God, he smells so nice. Aaah..._

"Well…about a girl." Sirius said cautiously, but with a small smile on his face.

"Okay…" Nina felt a little uneasy. "But I should warn you, I'm not very good at giving advice. Especially when it comes to girls because I can't understand half of them anyways. Maybe you should ask Lily or Sara."

"No, I can't ask them." he said resolutely, playing with a few strands of her hair. "I'm more comfortable with you anyways."

"Yeah, I can see that." Nina muttered quietly and said, "So what's up?"

"Okay," Sirius let out a breath, "There's this girl. I've liked her for a while, and if she's really stupid, which I think she is, she doesn't know that I do."

Nina looked at Sirius like he was crazy, and he went on explaining his situation, "See, I actually had some strange feeling about her at the end of sixth year. I can't really explain it. It was just some odd feeling I had for a moment. Then after the summer when I saw her, she looked more beautiful than ever and I was a little awe-struck by her. I couldn't really talk to her as much as I wanted to. But then, we kinda became friends and I realized that what I felt for her was more than just friendship, but I was too scared to risk anything. Anyways, now I really don't care about the consequences. I just want to tell her that I'm crazy about her."

_He's joking right? What is he trying to do? Okay, I'll just play along_… "Alright. So does _she_ like you?"

"I'm pretty sure she does." Sirius said.

_What?_ Nina felt like screaming but asked in a calm voice, "How do you know? Did she tell you?"

"Well…actually, yeah." Sirius said thoughtfully. "She did."

_Damn! Who is it? What other girls does he hang out with? Well, he's so bloody popular. It can be anybody. _"Oh. So what's the problem?" Nina asked as serenely as she could.

"I don't know what to do." He sighed.

_I know what I want to do. Kick someone's ass!_ "Just go and tell her how you feel." said Nina through clenched teeth.

"You think I should?" he asked her earnestly.

_No, you jackass. You should just stay single and happy. Or be with me_. "I guess, if it's what you want..."

"It is." he said sternly. "So how do I tell her?"

Nina started to feel irritated, "I don't know, Sirius."

"Oh come on, man. I need help. I've never done this before." he implored with her.

"Yeah right." Nina said rolling her eyes.

"No, I'm not kidding. I've never told a girl that I…" He stopped.

"That you what?" she asked him.

"You know…" he said motioning his hand.

"Care about her?" she asked.

"Yeah," He cleared his throat. "care…something like…that." _Not **care**, you idiot. Love! Ha! What a chicken. She can't even say that!_

"Ha! You can't even say it without stuttering. How are you going to tell her?" Nina questioned him.

"See! That's why I need advice. I don't know how to do this." Sirius looked a little dejected.

"I really have no idea. I'm worse at this than you." she said.

"Hmm." Sirius said looking at her. "Yeah probably."

"So…who's the girl anyways?" Nina asked unimportantly.

"Why do you want to know?" Sirius asked with a grin. _Heh heh heh…she's jealous!_

"I'm just curious." Nina replied.

"Ha! Well, I'm not telling you." Sirius said.

"Fine." Nina said opening her book again.

_Hmm…she gave up quickly._ "Okay that's it. I'm gonna go right now and tell her. There's no point wasting time, is there?" Sirius said confidently. _Come on, tell me not to go!_

"I guess not." Nina said flipping through her book. _Aaaaahhhh! Don't go!_

"So I'm leaving…now…to go and tell her." Sirius said again_. Stop me, you fool! Tell me what I want to hear. Please._

"Good luck." Nina said still looking at her book. _Bye. That's it. It's over. I'll never get to tell you how I really feel about you. Now go away so I can cry without you seeing me._

"Okay. I'll be back soon and tell you what happened." Sirius said still sitting down. _She isn't stopping me. I can't believe it. The whole day I kept trying to stir her up by flirting with her shamelessly, but she didn't do anything. She's so stubborn! Why doesn't she just tell me? I don't think she's going to say anything until I do. I don't know how much more I can take of this. The sexual tension is getting too much for me. I can't even look at her anymore without thinking something that I know she would be horrified to know I was thinking._

Nina looked at Sirius, wondering why he was still sitting there. His brow was furrowed and he looked like he was puzzled about something. It wasn't until he heard James's voice that he looked up.

"Oi! Padfoot, we gotta go!" James's called from behind.

"Shit. I forgot." he said, sounding really frustrated.

"Where are you guys going?" Nina asked him, feeling a little relieved that he wasn't going to see this mystery girl just yet.

"Full moon tonight." he responded getting up from the couch.

"Oh." Nina said now feeling a little worried instead.

"Yeah. We really have to go." he said sounding a bit regretful. _Blast this wretched moon!_

Nina nodded, "You guys should hurry up then."

"Okay, I'll see you later." Nina said picking up her book. "Don't do anything stupid. Make sure you guys stay safe."

"Aw, are you worried about me, Nina?" said Sirius with a smirk.

"Not just you, stupid." she replied. As soon as they left, she grabbed her book and went up to bed. She couldn't sleep; she kept thinking about what Sirius had told her. She kept hoping that maybe he wouldn't get a chance to talk to the girl he was so crazy about. Or, even better, that he was just playing a joke on her. She felt uneasy and didn't feel like lying down. She grabbed her book again and went down to the common room. She sat by the fire and tried to read. Her mind kept wandering away. She thought she could hear howling sounds every so often, and it gave her the chills. She kept looking at the clock. Time seemed to be going by so slowly. By four in the morning, she felt really anxious. _How late do these guys stay out?_

Her question was answered a moment later when the portrait hole opened and the three boys stepped in. They all looked tired, and Nina noticed that Sirius was clutching his upper left arm.

As soon as he saw Nina sitting near the fireplace, his face broke out into a smile and he said, "Hey. You're still awake?"

"Yeah." she said getting up and walking towards them. "I couldn't sleep."

"You were waiting for me weren't you?" he asked with a cocky grin.

"No." she said smiling back at him. "I just couldn't sleep."

"Yeah 'cause you kept thinking about me, eh?" Sirius said still grinning and James cracked a smile.

Nina rolled her eyes. "What happened to your arm?"

"Nothing. Just a scratch." he said unimportantly.

"Look mate, I'm telling you, I can heal it." James told him.

"Are you crazy? I want to keep my arm, thanks." Sirius said, holding his arm protectively.

"Okay then. Suffer." James said a little annoyed. "I'm going to bed. 'Night." He and Peter headed up the stairs.

"Can I see it?" Nina asked Sirius.

"It's not a big deal." Sirius replied.

"So let me see it then." she said sternly.

"Fine." he said and took off his jacket. The fitted t-shirt he was wearing underneath was ripped at the arm and it was stained with blood.

"Ooh. That's a pretty deep cut, stupid." Nina said examining it. "Shouldn't you go to the hospital wing?"

"Are you mad? I can't go there. Madam Pomfrey will know who scratched me." Sirius said defensively.

"Oh. Does it hurt a lot?" Nina asked him.

"Just a little." Sirius said coolly. _It hurts like a son of a bitch! Help me!_

"Well, it doesn't look so good. Okay, wait here. I'll get something." Nina ran up to her dorm and grabbed some rubbing alcohol pads and a scarf.

When Nina came back down Sirius was sitting on a couch. She sat next to him and moved his sleeve up. The touch of her skin on his wound made him shudder inside.

"Can you take your arm out of your sleeve?" she asked trying to move the sleeve up further. The cut went up to his shoulder and his shirt was in the way. "I can't get to your shoulder."

"Oh." he said and slipped his arm out from underneath his shirt. It seemed like he was trying to flex his muscles as he sat up straight. Nina tried to keep a straight face and _really_ tried to focus just on his cut and not the rest of his body. She took a pad and started to clean the wound. Sirius tensed up as soon as the alcohol seeped through the cut.

"It stings." she told him.

"Yeah I can feel that." he said, flinching a little. _OUCH! I gotta get my mind off this pain_. "So…tell me."

"Tell you what?" Nina said, still dabbing the cut with the alcohol pad.

"You don't trust me at all, do you?" he asked her.

"Yeah I do." she said absent-mindedly, concentrating on his arm.

"You don't." he said.

"How do you know?" Nina said looking up at him for a second with a frown and then returning back to the cut again.

"'Cause you keep stuff from me." he said matter-of-factly.

Nina stopped cleaning the cut and looked up at him and said defensively, "Look, if this is about Sean again, I told you, I was going to tell you first."

"No, it's not about that." Sirius interrupted her. _I don't want to talk about that bastard!_

"Then? I think you know almost everything about me." Nina went back to the wound.

"Yeah _almost_." he said.

"Well, it's not like you tell me everything, you hypocrite." Nina said, dabbing his arm a little roughly.

"Ah!" he flinched away from her.

"Oops. Sorry." she apologized and continued lightly again.

"Anyways, I would if you asked me." Sirius continued the conversation.

"You liar." Nina accused him. "I asked you who that girl was and you wouldn't tell me."

"Oh so that's what this is about." Sirius said knowingly. "You want me to tell you who it is."

"No. Stop twisting the conversation around. You always do that. Anyways, I don't care about who this girl is." Nina said. _Besides, it's not good to care about people you plan on murdering._

"You don't?" Sirius asked her with a raised eyebrow. _Ah, she's so cute when she lies. I just wanna...aaah...must...control...urge..._

"No. Tell me anything else I don't know."

Sirius looked at the ground for a moment, contemplating something. "Fine." He finally said. "But this is something that nobody besides Remus, James, and Peter knows." He leaned really close to Nina and started speaking in a very low voice.

"So you know how we go off with Remus every full moon…" Sirius started to explain.

"Yeah…like tonight." Nina said.

"Well, it would be extremely dangerous for us to go with him just like this." Sirius said motioning to himself.

"Okay…" Nina said, listening to him more intently now.

"So in fifth year, James, Peter and I learned how to become…animagi." He finished.

Nina's jaw and the alcohol pad she was holding dropped. "WHAT?"

"Shh." he said.

"But how? That's so dangerous! Are you guys crazy?" Nina exclaimed.

Sirius shrugged. "It was worth the risk."

"Oh boy." She was quiet for a moment, and then asked, "So what do you guys transform into?"

Sirius cleared his throat. "Well, Peter's a rat, and James is a stag."

"And you are?" Nina asked him when a thought crossed her mind. _Hold on…what if he's a….oh, no…_

"Well…" he cleared his throat again. Nina could tell by the look of his face that he was a little nervous to tell her what he was.

"Wait a minute." Nina said and looked at Sirius piercingly. "I think I know what you are."

"Do you." he said with a knowing smirk. _Ha! I totally cornered her in. She's gotta tell me something now._

_Oh shit!_ Nina bit her lip and looked down feeling thoroughly embarrassed. _What an idiot I am! How stupid could I be to talk to a bloody dog? It could have been anybody! This means he knew the whole day. Wait, he knows and he's still talking to me! Is that what all the shameless flirting was about? Okay, now I'm confused. Who's this girl then? Wait…it couldn't be…_

Nina picked up another alcohol pad and continued clearing his cut and asked him as casually as she could, "So what did she say?"

"She?" He looked a little confused and then remembered. "Oh…I don't know yet."

"You didn't tell her?" Nina asked him.

"Not yet." Sirius answered her.

"Why not?" Nina could feel the butterflies in her stomach starting to fly around.

"I don't know how, remember." he said quietly. "You didn't tell me."

"I told you, I'm really bad at this stuff." Nina muttered. The blood was finally cleared up and the cut didn't look as bad anymore.

She pressed around it lightly to see if it was still bleeding, and it seemed to be dry. Nina noticed that Sirius had goose bumps. She looked at her own arm and saw that she did too.

She looked up to him and he already had his eyes fixed on her. She felt the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach again and looked away from him. Her attraction for him was so strong that she felt embarrassed even looking at him. She was nervous and didn't know what to do so she just continued prodding him with the pad needlessly and asked him if he was feeling cold.

"No." he said quietly.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, looking up again.

"I don't know." he said still boring his eyes into her.

"Can you stop looking at me like that, you're kind of scaring me." she said.

"Am I?" he asked her while turning himself towards her. _I think that werewolf scratch has made him deranged or something._

Nina looked up at a clock and said, "It's pretty late, eh? People are going to be getting up soon.I think I'm going to head up to bed." She quickly got up and was about to turn to leave when Sirius got up and grabbed her.

"Hey!" he pulled her close to him. "You can't go anywhere."

"I'm just tired." she said, her heart pounding in her chest, both hoping and fearing what he was going to do.

"So am I." he said sternly, as if he was almost angry. All the months of frustration seemed to just bubble out of him. "I'm tired of playing this game with you."

"I'm not--"

"Shh." He put his hand over her mouth, and pulled her even closer towards him.. "You're going to say something stupid, I know it."

Nina frowned at him and wanted to say something back but Sirius, with his hand still over her mouth, leaned down to her ear and whispered, "Didn't anyone ever to teach you not to trust anything that could think for itself? It's too bad you don't like dogs." Nina felt a ticklish shiver run down her body as he kissed her ear gently, but she couldn't move. He ran his other hand through her silky dark hair and breathed her in deeply. He looked her in the eyes and said softly, "You're not going to say anything stupid now, are you?"

Nina shook her head slightly and he moved his hand from her mouth to the side of her neck, and kissed her, gently at first and then with a deeper urgency until they both knew that this was exactly what they wanted. And that was it. They didn't have to say anything else to each other. What they felt was beyond anything that they had the ability to express, and even the nagging voices in their heads seemed to be silenced. They realized that they had denied their feelings and attraction for each for the sake of their friendship, which they had almost lost completely in the process. The times were becoming more and more uncertain and they didn't know how long of what they had would last, and at that moment they didn't really care. They would have given up anything just to share it with each other because if, by chance, it would be their only, at least it would be a good one.

* * *

A/N: Okay folks...I think that's about it! This chapter is twice as long as the other ones so I hope you all liked it! I really didn't feel like writing anything depressing so I had to end it while everyone was still happy and ALIVE! hehehehe. Thank you so much to everyone who sent me a review, and especially those of you who sent me reviews for almost every chapter! I hope the ending isn't too abrupt. This isn't supposed to be a very deep or insightful story...so I just wanted it to end on a light note. If anyone is reading this the whole way through for the first time, I wouldn't mind still getting any reviews so that I can improve on anything. Thanks again! 

Also, if you liked this one, then maybe you'd like to check out my other story called 'It's Not So Bad' (another Sirius/OC story)...I'd love to know what you think of that one as well!


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